A 2-year-old boy died while playing in a bounce house that was blown away by a powerful gust of wind in southwest Arizona, authorities said.
Several children were inside the bounce house Saturday afternoon when high winds blew the inflatable into the air and toward a nearby field, a spokesperson for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said in a communicated. The statement called the incident in Casa Grande, a town about an hour’s drive from Phoenix, a “tragic accident” and sent “heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family.”
The boy was injured in the bounce house and later died at the hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. Another child was also taken to hospital with injuries, although his life is not considered life-threatening. CBS affiliate KPHO-TV reported that the girl suffered a broken arm.
A GoFundMe campaign launched in the wake of the boy’s death identified him as Bodhi, whose parents, referred to by their first names Karl and Christy, are expecting a second baby at the end of May. Campaign organizer Ashley Al-Khouri said the boy’s father is a firefighter and her own husband’s co-worker at Phoenix Fire Station 40 and called the couple “dear friends” in a description of the Fund raising.
“As a community, we want to offer our support and ease the financial burden that comes with such tragedies. Your donations will help Karl and Cristy focus on grieving the loss of their beloved Bodhi while preparing for the next chapter of their life,” Al-Khouri wrote. . Donations had already surpassed the fundraiser’s $100,000 goal as of Tuesday morning.
Phoenix Firehouse 25 shared a link to the fundraiser on Instagram and said the couple have been “an integral part of the Firehouse 25 family for many years,” and noted the upcoming arrival of their newborn, due on next month, “to add to the unimaginable hell they have experienced these last 2 days.”
Inflatables have been a staple of children’s entertainment for decades and can be a centerpiece of outdoor gatherings like birthday parties. Whether they are safe or not was debated Increasingly over the years, pediatric medical experts, personal injury attorneys and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are warning of a wide range of potential threats that some inflatable products can pose to children.
One report received particular attention after its publication in 2022 in the Bulletin of the American Mogenic Society. Researchers determined that inflatable houses “pose a safety hazard when dragged, knocked over, or lifted by wind,” after reviewing 132 incidents involving inflatable houses and wind that occurred between 2000 and 2021. These incidents have led to at least 479 injuries and at least 28 deaths, according to the report.
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