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'They're risky' || Mom warns of trampoline dangers after toddler suffers fracture

Her one-year-old daughter fractured her tibia at a trampoline park in East Tennessee.

MORRISTOWN, Tenn. — When it started to rain, Celeste Walker's 7-year-old son asked to go to a jump park.

Walker said she thought it would be a good indoor activity. As her son explored the jump park, she and her daughter Emma bounced together on a trampoline. 

"I set her down and she had enough time to walk off of the side and walk onto the trampoline," Walker said. "A big full-grown man came and just bounced right next to her. Her knee bent all the way backwards and she just kind of collapsed in half."

Now, Walker is trying to warn other parents of the dangers trampoline parks might have for younger children like Emma. 

Dr. Kristin Farr, a pediatrician at East Tennessee Children's Hospital, said she has seen similar injuries.

"We see a lot of broken bones. We can certainly see some concussions too. That's usually what kind of frequents our emergency rooms," she said. 

She and the American Academy of Pediatricians caution against trampolines unless used in safe, controlled environments — like training facilities for gymnasts. 

"They're risky," Farr said. "The bottom line is that we just don't feel that trampolines are very safe."

Walker said that's especially true for younger children like her daughter, who didn't know any better. 

"There's grown people in there jumping around and they're not paying attention," she said. "It could've been much worse."

We reached out to local trampoline parks and they said safety is their top priority. They said they have taken multiple precautions such as installing thick safety padding, using commercial-grade materials and engineering safe jump patterns.

The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission found trampolines account for 4-percent of all sports injuries.

Experts said checking equipment and paying attention to your surroundings can help prevent similar situations. 

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