A SPATE of serious lawnmower accidents resulting in hand and foot amputations has prompted a leading plastic surgeon to issue a warning against giving children "spins" on ride-on mowers. Some people treat ride-on lawnmowers "like quad bikes", said consultant plastic surgeon David Orr.
Crumlin Hospital alone has treated four children who have maimed hands or feet in lawnmower-related accidents in the past 10 weeks.
Two of the children lost hands and a further two children lost feet, he said. All were under the age of four and all involved ride-on mowers.
Dr Orr said he treats about 50 lawnmower accidents in adults and children every year between St James's and Crumlin hospitals. The majority occur during the summer.
The fact that the most serious accidents are caused by children getting spins on ride-on mowers has sparked a stern warning from Mr Orr. "I am appealing to parents to never, ever give a spin on a ride-on mower. If they do, their child is seconds away from death," he told The Irish Times.
"Not so long ago, the only people who had ride-on mowers were people with huge country estates, now with the Celtic Tiger everyone seems to want one."
Ride-on mower accidents occur when children fall off during a spin or when children, following the mower around, slip under it, he said. "Young children are used to following their parents around the house while they are hoovering. They don't realise that a lawnmower is a very dangerous machine and parents don't hear or see them."
Injuries from lawnmowers are very serious and will have lifelong effects, Mr Orr said. When accidents involve children, they are "particularly tragic". Parents can experience massive guilt which can tear families apart, he said.
The only safe way to mow the lawn when young children are present is to have one adult watch the youngsters from indoors and another adult to mow the lawn, said Mr Orr.
Lawnmower accidents don't happen to "stupid or careless parents but rather to careful, loving and responsible parents who make mistakes", he said.
"Children will be under a lawnmower in seconds and it only takes a second to sever a child's hand or foot."
Among adults, the most common lawnmower injuries are to hands and fingers, said Michael O'Shaughnessy, plastic surgeon at Cork University Hospital.
These typically occur when people attempt to remove grass clogging the blades of power mowers.
He advised people to ensure the motor, rather than just the blade, has completely stopped before going near the mower. In the case of an electric mower, always plug it out before going near the blades, he said.
Mr O'Shaughnessy also warned about the dangers of children around tractors, particularly uncovered power take-off shafts, which can result in arm loss or even death.
"Every summer, we treat lots of serious farm injuries involving children. There just doesn't seem to be a huge degree of awareness of the dangers involved."
Compared with other amputations, lawnmower amputations can be treated quite successfully because it is usually a clean cut and does not involve crushing,according to Jack McCann, plastic surgeon at University College Hospital Galway.