Urgent safety warning after 4-year-old twins die in wooden toy box

As the twins' devastated parents urge families who own a toy box to 'destroy it immediately.'

A leading accident prevention charity has issued an urgent warning after 4-year-old twins suffocated in their toy box.

US twins Aurora and Kellan died after climbing into their wooden toy chest – used to store their stuffed toy animals – and falling asleep. Sadly, the lid of the chest fell shut behind them and the pair ran out of oxygen.

They were found dead later that morning by their older brother after their father Don raised the alarm.

Now the Child Accident Prevention Trust has urged parents to teach their children not to climb into or onto furniture. They've also asked parents to check how easy it is to open their toy box.

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'Destroy it immediately'

The twins' heartbroken mother, Sadie Myers, took to social media to speak about the death of her daughters. She wants other parents to understand the potential dangers of toy chests which can become 'air tight' and 'soundproof' when closed.

And she urged parents who own one to 'destroy it immediately.'

She went on to explain how she had tied the wooden chest shut but the kids had begged her to open it so they could play with the stuffed toys inside it. 

She said that the twins would often get up in the middle of the night to go and sleep in other places.

‘Friday night, the weird place they decided to snuggle up and go back to sleep was in their cedar toy chest that we use to store all their stuffed animals,’ she wrote in her heart-wrenching Facebook post earlier this week.

She went on to explain how the twins removed some of their stuffed animals from the chest, then fell asleep each with an arm over the other. 

‘Sometime during their sleep one of them must have moved or kicked during a dream and it caused the lid of this old wooden cedar chest to close…’ she wrote.

'Me and Don are having an extremely hard time trying to make sense of it,' she said. 'Not many will ever know the feeling of trying to not spend EVERY WAKING SECOND crying in agony.'

A terrible tragedy

Katrina Phillips, Chief Executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust said: 'This is a terrible tragedy and our hearts go out to the family. Do take a moment to check how easy it is to open your child's toy box. 

'Many push open easily but there could be a problem with a heavy wooden lid. And teach your children not to climb onto or into furniture.'

Ms Phillips added that what happened is incredibly rare and she is not aware of any incidents such as this in the UK.

A danger to small children

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), also added their recommendation for parents to check toys regularly for wear and tear, and keeping an eye on young children while they play.

Earlier this year a paediatric nurse and mum of 2, who posts of TikTok as @nurse.a, spoke out about the dangers of wooden toys chests, explaining why she would never have one in her home.

'We will never own a toy box and I will always recommend a safety latch if someone does have one.' 

'They can pose a pretty large danger to children,' she added in a second video she posted to her TikTok. 'Usually under the age of 2, but also some under the age of 10.

'These chests can cause possible suffocation, they can cause traumatic brain injuries, neck injuries and death.'

She went on to explain that a child could be playing hide and seek and climb inside the chest to hide and that its latch can often automatically shut.

Buy a safety latch

'If the child is stuck in there, depending on how heavy the lid is and if the latch is completely shut, and other factors, it can cause suffocation.'

Nurse A also added that if a child reaches in for a toy, the lid can automatically close on them, causing neck strangulation or traumatic brain injury.

'I know it sounds like something that wouldn't happen, but because these lids and these chests and trunks are so heavy, because they're made of solid wood, they really do have the potential and the risk of falling down and just trapping somebody, especially a smaller child.'

If you do have one of these toy boxes, she suggests buying a safety latch, which can be attached to the toy box to prop it up and will cause a soft close.

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