As children, we all act a little foolish. After all, maturing includes learning to turn down potentially risky activities.
Unfortunately, children are vulnerable to peer pressure and other influences; even the brightest kids can be persuaded to take part in risky behaviors.
Just ask Tyler Broome’s parents, who had to deal with their son’s severe injuries when he tried “the roundabout of death,” a YouTube fad that has since gone viral.
The name gives away most of the details, but for Tyler, it wasn’t so much a daring stunt as a chance to impress his buddies with his bravery.
After being subjected to tremendous gravitational force (G-force), the 11-year-old developed injuries similar to those observed in fighter pilots.
The “roundabout of death” fad, in which he participated, involves riders sitting in the center of a playground roundabout as the rear wheel of a motorcycle spins the structure at high speed.
Tyler was found unconscious at the roundabout not long after the incident, possibly with brain and eye injury.
Powerful force
It is speculated that he experienced G-forces similar to those felt by pilots and astronauts.
Tyler and his friend reportedly were at a local park when a bunch of older adolescents approached them and dared them to join their game.
Awful ordeal
“I don’t recognise my child – he is on the verge of having a stroke. Tyler sat on the roundabout, and the boy who came over was about 17. Tyler doesn’t know him, they are not friends,” his mom Dawn said, per British newspaper The Independent.
“He puts his motorbike on the floor, gets the roundabout spinning at such a speed. When they all stopped, the group just cleared off – it is bullying.”
Dawn said the doctors and nurses at the hospital had never seen anything like her son’s injuries and had to do some investigating before they could begin treating him.
“The injuries were so extreme, he just looked like the Elephant Man. They have never seen it before, they are going to make a medical report from it.
“His head has completely swelled up, his blood vessels have burst, his eyes look alien. His vision is blurry. You can manage a broken arm but this? He doesn’t remember it, he doesn’t remember the detail.”
Keep in mind, parents, that kids are curious and may try things you and I would advise against.
Young Tyler and his loved ones are in our prayers.
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