safety stories
Unfortunately accidents happen. Having a car seat designed to provide your child with unmatched safety & side impact protection can make all the difference.
Nicole Hopkins, May 2017
On May 25th, 2017, Nicole and her two-year-old daughter were driving from their hometown in Alberta to Newdale, Manitoba. Ever since she was a little girl Nicole has taken this trip to visit her grandparents each year. Nicole was passing through Moosomin, Saskatchewan when her car was struck head on by a drunk driver, forcing her car off the highway and causing it to roll six times.
“The Diono rainier quite possibly saved my two-year-old daughter’s life. My daughter was sleeping at the time and when she was checked over by EMS she was uninjured! Your engineering of this great car seat had a part in her completely walking away from this horrific accident.”
Sarah Beck, March 2017
In March of 2017, Sarah Beck and her two children were driving from Baja, Mexico, to California to meet her husband to begin a family vacation. Highway 1 is a beautiful and adventurous drive, but can be challenging for those not experienced on its narrow roads, high ravines, pot holes and other “obstacles.” Sarah is an experienced Highway 1 driver, having traveled it for 25 years. “I had my first driving lessons on it and have driven the highway too many times to count,” she said.
After refueling in Jesus Maria, Sarah and her kids continued on their drive towards San Quintin, the next stop on their journey. After passing a big rig and hitting a straight stretch with no other cars in sight, what happened next took Sarah by complete surprise.
“I can’t quite grasp what happened next. One minute everything was great and the next, I was crashing. I am fairly certain the front passenger tire went flat. Everything happened so quickly. With the tire flat, the truck veered off the highway to the right, I panicked and turned the steering wheel to get the truck back on the road. It was then that I realized that I had lost control of the truck. We were spinning in the middle of the highway. As we came around I thought that maybe I could straighten out, but we were going too fast. The truck went flying off the road and as we flew through the air and then hit the dirt, I thought maybe it would be okay, but when we hit the dirt the truck began to roll. We were crashing and there was nothing that I could do to stop it. It rolled four times. It probably all happened in under a minute, but those four rolls were the longest, most violent thing I have experienced.”
“Thankfully the truck landed on the tires. We weren’t suspended upside down or anything. There was dirt and glass everywhere. I could hear my son crying, but my daughter wasn’t making a sound. I didn’t think, I slammed by body against the door until it opened and rushed to the other side of the car, where my daughter was strapped into her car seat. As I rushed to her, I flagged down the semi-truck that I had passed earlier. He stopped and came running. My daughter was moaning now and my son was asking me what happened. I will never be able to erase the look of terror in his eyes as I watched tears run down his dirty cheeks.”
“’We crashed baby, we crashed. I am sorry. I don’t know if Layla is okay. Are you hurt? Are you bleeding?’ I said to him as I willed my daughter to open her eyes. He promised me that nothing was hurt on his body as I searched her body. There was a goose egg above her head, I didn’t see anything else, but I couldn’t figure out where the blood was coming from. As I removed her from her car seat, I questioned if it was the safest thing to do, but I did it anyway. The trucker asked me in Spanish what he could do and I made a prayer of thanks that I speak Spanish. I told him to remove my son from his seat and sat down in the dirt with my daughter and cooed in her ear that everything would be okay. The trucker deposited my son in my lap and I inspected every inch of them. Aside from the goose egg and a cut on my daughter’s finger, they were okay. There was barely a scratch on them. It’s a testament for how good Diono car seats are. I am crying as I write this sentence, those car seats saved my kid’s lives.”
For over an hour Sarah waited for an ambulance to arrive at the scene, while good Samaritans offered what help they could give. It was another hour’s ride in an ambulance to the nearest hospital in Guerrero Negro and along the way firefighters assured her that all three were okay. Once at the hospital, nurses and doctors looked over everyone, gave Sarah some stitches in her head and told her to see a specialist about her injured right wrist. X-rays later revealed it had been broken in three places.
Sarah said “I don’t know how or why we survived the insanely violent experience of flying off the road, rolling and crashing our truck in the middle of Baja…what I do know, is that I look at my kids in utter amazement and am so very grateful for those Diono Radian RXT seats and how strong our truck was.”
You can read Sarah’s entire, amazing story on her blog, This Gypsy Path.
All photos courtesy Sarah Beck.
Kellie Cleland, February 2017
Kellie Cleland of Warren, OH, was recently involved in a crash in which her car was struck by another driver. Her two-year-old twins were riding with in their radian rXTs while her older child was in a booster.
In a post on Facebook, Kellie stated “It’s time for my PSA of the day. Let’s talk car seat safety. Radian rXT seats cost an arm and a leg… but we spent it because 1) they are narrow enough to fit three across and 2) they were rated as a best bet from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety (IIHS). The two 2-year-olds wearing light winter coats were in these during our recent accident and had NO injuries. None. They didn’t budge. Meanwhile, my big kid was in a backless booster correct for her size…. 66lb, 50″…. well above the requirements for a backless booster. Let’s talk about her seat…. it was found next to her and she was laying on her side after being moved forward so hard that she broke her clavicle. Needless to say, I am purchasing her a high back booster that will hold her belt in the correct position. Because had she been in one, she may not have been as injured. So for those of you in the market for a car seat that will grow with your child (up to 120 lb), spend the money. Save a life. I will recommend these seats until the day I die. Especially for those of you with more than two kids… or tiny baby twins. Just bite the bullet and spend the money on a Diono radian rXT. I promise it will be the safest decision you could ever make for your kids.”
Tiffany Vincent, February 2017
On February 21st, Tiffany Vincent was on her way to pick up her daughter from preschool with her son riding rear-facing in his diono rainier. About a block away, Tiffany noticed a driver ahead of her traveling in the opposite direction had started to cross into her lane. Before she could react she collided with the other car.
“I remember the impact and immediately turning around to try to get to my son because he was screaming. A gentleman was trying to get his car seat out. I had the top tether attached and they were struggling to get it unhooked. I saw the man remove him from the seat and another gentleman helped me climb across the passenger side because my door was jammed shut,” Tiffany said. “They ended up cutting the top tether to remove my son’s rainier from the car. They had sat me on the ground and placed him in my lap. I had a broken arm and leg and was severely confused. Once they had the seat out they came over and placed him back into it. Once the ambulance arrived, I was placed on a stretcher and put in and my son was kept in his car seat to the hospital. I am fuzzy on this period as shock had set in but I remember knowing he was OK because he was talking with the EMTs and they kept telling me he’s in perfect condition. Once we arrived at the hospital they took us into the same room. He was given a full exam and discharged in under an hour because he had no visible injuries.”
Tiffany underwent multiple x-rays and it was determined that her left leg, right arm and nose had been broken in the crash. She remained at the hospital for another four hours and was discharged. She says her son has some bruising on his leg from the 5-point harness but is otherwise in good health. “I’m still in a slow recovery but beyond grateful that the injuries are mine and not my son’s,” she said.
You can read more about Tiffany’s story on The Winchester Star’s website.
Andrea Murray, February 2017
Andrea Murray shared her story with us via Facebook and you can see the original post here.
In February 2017, Andrea, who lives in mid-western Illinois, was on her way to work after an ice storm when her car skidded out of control and rolled 1 1/2 times. Her daughter, riding in a diono rainier, was uninjured. Andrea said “No parent should ever have to turn and look in the backseat to see if their child is still alive, but if you ever do I hope you see what I saw. My child perfectly snug in her carseat, she did not move an inch, her carseat did not move an inch, everything around her was broken, but she was perfect. She did not have a single scratch on her.”
“I remember the impact and immediately turning around to try to get to my son because he was screaming. A gentleman was trying to get his car seat out. I had the top tether attached and they were struggling to get it unhooked. I saw the man remove him from the seat and another gentleman helped me climb across the passenger side because my door was jammed shut,” Tiffany said. “They ended up cutting the top tether to remove my son’s rainier from the car. They had sat me on the ground and placed him in my lap. I had a broken arm and leg and was severely confused. Once they had the seat out they came over and placed him back into it. Once the ambulance arrived, I was placed on a stretcher and put in and my son was kept in his car seat to the hospital. I am fuzzy on this period as shock had set in but I remember knowing he was OK because he was talking with the EMTs and they kept telling me he’s in perfect condition. Once we arrived at the hospital they took us into the same room. He was given a full exam and discharged in under an hour because he had no visible injuries.”
Tiffany underwent multiple x-rays and it was determined that her left leg, right arm and nose had been broken in the crash. She remained at the hospital for another four hours and was discharged. She says her son has some bruising on his leg from the 5-point harness but is otherwise in good health. “I’m still in a slow recovery but beyond grateful that the injuries are mine and not my son’s,” she said.
You can read more about Tiffany’s story on The Winchester Star’s website.