Near fatal Burger King experience

Last night my wife was a guest speaker at her church, that left the kids and I to fend for ourselves at dinner..
We ended up at a new Burger king in our small town, a couple kids meals in the play area and we were all set.
Th kids 2 and 3, were climbing around in the tubes and slides when I noticed my daughter was quiet for a bit too long, I sent her brother in to look for her. They both have a tendancy to get up on levels they can't get down from, and my wife usually goes in to rescue them.
My son came back and said, "she's stuck Dad", so I sent him back to help her. A couple minutes passed so I went to the entry tube to see what the hold up was, inside the tube all I could see was her feet hanging down, I reached in tugged a time or two to convince her to let go and get her coat on, no go. I slid my body into the thing and was face to face with my daughter who had her head stuck between two levels of the playground, her head was sideways and slightly blue. In a rush of adrenaline I forced the plastic apart and freed her, I rused her to my van at which time she was already feeling better and wanting to go back in. Another bite of my meal and things could have got much, much worse.
I went back in this morning to address the problem with the manager and take a photo or two, coinicidently the owner was there too. The manager got inside this tiny tube with me to see what happened, "I can't believe this is like that" he said
I went to the counter to get some corporate numbers and the owner had begun to give us some attention, I explained it in short form and began to walk away, I turned to the owner and said "Are you going to close that playground until it's fixed? I would hate to see something happen to another family before this issue is addressed" he said "No, but I'll make a phone call" and turned his back to me. I was infuriated, I explained the situation on a corporate level and they immediatly had the room closed. An internal investgator is going in right now and the playground manufacturer is due there at 3:30, I too will be there then, with our local reporter.
I live for my kids, this was a fear that I would not wish upon my worst of enemy.
Never rely on anyone to provide safety, but yourself.

At first I thought you just meant the food!

I'm appalled that the owner would respond like that, however, I guess I'm not surprised. He probably thought it would lose him some business.

Good to hear that you got the ball rolling on correcting the problem. Hopefully if it occurs at more than one Burger King, the corporate headquarters will take care of the others as well.

OMG! So glad you got there in time.

That's a little bit too close, she was already blue. Yikes!

Wow, scary stuff just reading that. Glad your daughter got out & with no serious injuries.
Good job on standing ground and demanding something be done. Let us know what develops! :thumbsup:

cannot believe owner would not imediately shut down play ground until issues resolved.

maybe this is why MickyD's are not including playgrounds in new facilities and older MD have been closing them down.

Wow, I'm glad that it ended well!!!!
I'm sorry for your scare and glad you got SOMEBODY to close that playground until it was checked out. I'm also very relieved to see you comment that parents need to be vigilant as well 'cause we sure can't depend on "them" or "they" (as in I'm sure "they" will do something) to keep things safe.

Gold star for you for following up too! I've seen far too many situations where people just can't be bothered to do some small repair or such, and then later someone gets seriously hurt or dies because of it.

man that's scary! poor baby girl... glad she's okay...

Ya I noticed shortly after one of our many mcdonalds got a brand new, HUGE play ground, not long after they tore it all down and re-did the building without one. The other ones do not have playgrounds and never did.

I thought you were talking about some of the heart "conditioning" food available there too at 1st.
For years, I have worried about those playgrounds at fast food joints.
There have been problems before at some of these in the past.
And yet, the safety at these just doesn't seem to improve much imho.
And I'm sorry to get ugly, but it does look a little too much like some fast food places really could'nt give a rats tail about our health and well being at any age.

Parents beware. oo:

Man! I was thinking "someone almost choked to death at a McDonald's" when I read the title. Sure is scary when your little ones are involved (multiply that by 100000 when they are already blue!!). I'm sooo glad your little one is OK.

I can't believe the reaction of the restaurant owner. What a jerk! No playground will ever be 100% safe, but to ignore your worries just like that is no OK. I'm glad you got the ball rolling on this; chances are it's hapenned before and nobody did anything. Sadly, some things are fixed only after some tragedy happens.

The restaurant has only been open for a week or two, pretty new..
I told the internal inspector about the lack of concern from the owner, I said he responded as though I was complaining about cold french fries. I think Burger King Canada is pretty upset about the owners refusal to close the play center, as a separate issue.
Just wait till my lawyer gets involved..
When I went in to take pictures today I asked the parents there to remove their kids, I don't want to be the guy in the playcenter with a camera.. The mothers who were there up and left immediatly after hearing my story.

WOW - certainly THANKFUL your daughter is alright!! Seems "SOMEONE" was watching over her!!

HOPEFULLY this was and incident that will PREVENT another child from getting injured or worse!

Pydpiper said:

I said he responded as though I was complaining about cold french fries.

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That's exactly the impression I got when I read your post.

Pydpiper said:

Just wait till my lawyer gets involved..

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Sounds like you're getting really serious about this!

Wow. . .Good to hear that your little one is alright and that YOU were there to get her out. No parent should have to ever go through a scenario or similar likewise as you have.

Waiting to hear the end result of all this.

This little head...


Got stuck in this little hole.. She slid her body between this gap and caught her head before her feet touched the next step.

Pydpiper said:

She slid her body between this gap and caught her head before her feet touched the next step.

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That has to be one of the worst designs I've ever seen. Find the design engineer, the salesman and the purchasing agent and get a lot of rope and a big tree.

Whew. Thank God you rescued her in time.

Two pretty ladies you have there!

Was there any signage indicating a minimum age on the play area?

No, I also photographed the rules.. It states that only children under 4' can use the equiptment. The part she was stuck in is completly enclosed, there is absolutly no way an adult can see what is happening in that tube.

powernoodle said:

Was there any signage indicating a minimum age on the play area?

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Edit.. The rule says "children must be 4 feet or smaller to use play area"