PARENTS are being urged to take up a potentially life-saving offer from a Grimsby businessman.
Ken McQuoid, the owner of Kensway Blinds, is giving away safety clips – a simple device that could prevent a child from being strangled by the chord on their own window blinds.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) has revealed that since 1999 26 children have died as a result of such accidents– half of which happened since the start of 2010.
Ken's campaign follows the death of two-year-old Alexandra Hoegh, who was found hanging from a window blind cord next to her cot.
The daughter of shipping tycoon Morten Hoegh – one of the UK's richest men – was found suspended from the cord of a roller blind on the top floor of the family's £12 million, five-storey home in West London.
Ken said: "The death of the little girl is a tragic example of the risks of cords to young children. Despite all the money the father had, a cheap and effective plastic clip could have prevented this sad event from occurring.
"I want to make more people aware of this potential danger in the home.
"Many people have blinds and it doesn't take a child long to get themselves in a dangerous position. The safety clips are a simple and easy fix to prevent the danger to children."
A RoSPA spokesman said the society is keen to help secure a voluntary agreement among manufacturers and retailers that will eventually see an end to looped blind cords altogether.
He added: "In the meantime, we encourage parents and carers to fit blinds with some form of safety device such as a chain/cord-break connector, chain/cord tidy or cleat.
"A loop which hangs at waist height for an adult could slip around the neck of a young child if he or she falls.
"Or, if the loop is at floor level, it could become wrapped around the neck of a baby who is crawling. There have also been cases in which babies have been accidentally strangled by cord loops hanging into their cots.
"RoSPA's advice is to not place a child's cot, bed, playpen or highchair near a window and only install blinds that do not have a cord, especially in a child's bedroom.
"RoSPA does not recommend that cords are cut, even as a short-term solution.
"It is advisable that any action taken on the blind cord is a permanent one which will take the cord out of reach of children."
Find out more
To receive two free clips, visit Kensway Blinds, on Pasture Street, Grimsby, and additional clips can be purchased at a minimal price, if needed.
