Mum issues urgent warning on bunk beds after toddler breaks his neck from fall
Mum-of-three Amanda Navarro Naz has issued an urgent warning to other parents about the dangers of bunk beds after her two-year-old son, Ezra, fell from one and broke his neck.
Amanda, a nursing student from a town near Chicago, Illinois, has shared her shock at learning just how common bunk bed accidents are following Ezra's harrowing fall.
On average, 36,000 children suffer from bunk bed related injuries every year in the US.
Amanda admitted she feels 'immense hatred' towards the bunk bed and 'just wants to burn it'.
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She said: "I didn't know there were so many accidents and so much trauma related to bunk beds. Because it's not publicised.
"I went onto Google and all the numbers looked the same. There were astronomical amounts of broken arms, broken legs, strangulation, and concussions from falling off it. I'm looking at all these statistics and thinking 'why does nobody talk about this'.
"Even if I can just reach one family that was thinking about getting a bunk bed because the next family might not be as lucky as we were.
"If you have a toddler with older children, don't get a bunk bed. Don't do it. It will save your younger child in the long run."
In November last year (2023), Ezra climbed up to the top of the 6ft bunk bed and suffered a terrible fall, while playing with his brother.
Amanda said: "I didn't know Ezra could even climb the bunk bed until one day Amy went up it and then he walked right behind her. He literally mirrored her because he's her shadow.
"We don't really understand why he went up. We can only assume it was because he was playing and saw Amy's stuffed animals and wanted to play with them or he was hoping Amy was up there."
After rushing Ezra to the emergency room, Amanda was told that Ezra was fine despite him having suffered a 'trauma case'. Ezra had fallen from double his height.
She said: "They took him for his CT scan and told me there was nothing wrong with his neck and we could go home. He was cradling his neck. He wouldn't put any weight on his neck. I was getting really mad.
"When they took off the neck brace his head immediately dropped backwards and he started screaming bloody murder. I was holding his head in place. His head shouldn't drop like that. I was trying to not let my son get paralysed.
"The neurosurgeon told us Ezra has broken his C2 vertebrae and would need a brace for 16 to 20 weeks. We were lucky he didn't need surgery and he would fully heal and live a very normal life.
"Had we gone home it would have gotten so much worse and he probably would not have been so lucky.
"It was 24 hours of chaos. It was very shell shocking to be in that moment. There's nothing you can do for your baby. You're just sitting there. I was in a complete trance."
Amanda has opened up about the guilt she and her husband feel about the accident, despite not knowing Ezra was able to climb it.
She said: "Me and my husband Ramon do feel a lot of guilt. But I told him it could've happened no matter what we did. Anything can happen with a kid. You blink and anything can happen.
"There's been a few people that have said obviously you shouldn't let a toddler near a bunk bed. It's your own doing, your own fault.
"Ezra had never really played on it like that. Any time he had played on it we were in the room. He was always on the bottom bunk with [his brother] Gryson. He had very little interest in climbing up the ladder and going up top.
"I've started locking their bedroom door when they aren't home so the baby can't go in there. When they're home playing in their room, it's locked. It's always locked until we can separate their bunk beds."
Ezra was able to have his neck brace removed in March this year after 16 weeks.
Amanda said: "We got so, so lucky that he's not paralysed, he didn't need surgery and he's alive. We're walking away as a family of five when we could've walked away as a family of four."
She added: "We took Ezra's brace off and he was looking round and it made the doctor really happy because he had full range of motion.
"Right now he runs, he plays like a normal little toddler. You would never look at him and suspect he broke his neck. He doesn't hold back. He 's running, he's jumping. It's been great watching him progress because it didn't stop him anywhere."
Amanda concluded: "Being able to see that he's walking, he's alive, he's breathing and it could've ended so opposite, really humbles you and makes you appreciate it."
Kya Buller