Personal Injury Law

Mike Tyson's Daughter Very Critical After Treadmill Accident

By Jane Akre

Boxer Mike Tyson's four-year-old daughter is on life support after an accident on a treadmill in her Phoenix, Arizona home Monday.

Exodus Tyson was found by her seven-year-old brother, Miguel, with a cord around her neck. The cord was hanging down from the treadmill. 

The children's mother was summoned by the boy who rushed the little girl to a nearby hospital where Exodus is listed in extremely critical condition and on life support reports ABC News.   Mike Tyson had been in Las Vegas and flew back to Phoenix.  

Police say that based on their initial investigation the incident appears to be "a tragic accident," local news reported. 

A statement released by the family thanks everyone for their prayers and support but asks "that we be allowed our privacy at this difficult time."

The accident happened when her mother was cleaning in another room.  When her mother found Exodus, she began CPR, which the fire department workers continued when they arrived. 

ABC News reports that the unidentified woman who called 9-1-1 just after 10:30 a.m. initially reported an electrocution but changed her report to a  hanging. 

Many parents report online about the dangers their children have faced on treadmills, from almost turning on the switch and being thrown off to having portions of their hand ripped off by the conveyor belt.

Consumer Reports recommends that you keep the safety key that turns on a treadmill away from a child's reach. 

And the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in a May 2005 report says there are about 25,000 hospitalizations from injuries associated with home exercise equipment every year, with more than 24 percent happening to children under the age of five. 

InjuryBoard Boston reports that treadmills are cited as the most dangerous equipment in gyms by managers.  In one case, an Indiana jury awarded $9 million to a man who suffered serious spinal cord injuries after the treadmill he was on stopped abruptly, throwing him against the front of the machine (an appellate court recently reversed the verdict and ordered a new trial).  #

Full post as published by InjuryBoard on May 26, 2009 (boomark / email).