Nerf guns are a common staple of kids toys that can be found in many homes. It can be a pretty dangerous toy and you would often hear parents banning the toy in their household. With good reason! Recently, a nine-year-old boy in South Wales needed to have his eye removed as a result of a Nerf gun eye injury.
Nerf gun eye injury causes boy to lose his eye
Image source: Flickr
Taylor-Jay Ravicini was playing at home with a friend under his mother’s supervision. Things seem to be going well until he was shot in his right eye.
Taylor had already lost all sight in his right eye when he was shot by a toy arrow when he was three-years-old. Stacey, Taylor’s mother, said the accident “happened in a flash”.
“I was downstairs, and I heard a devastating scream and my heart sunk, I couldn’t even go to see him, I sent my partner as I knew something had happened.”
Upon inspecting Taylor’s eye, it was clear to see that it had gotten worse after being shot at by the Nerf gun.
“Taylor’s eye was full of blood and it was causing a build-up of pressure. Doctors told us that he risked losing sight in both eyes if we didn’t remove the damaged one,” Stacey shared.
After an emergency operation and infections in the eye, Taylor was hospitalised for six weeks after the unfortunate accident.
Stacey is trying to fundraise for a better quality prosthetic eye to avoid drawing more attention to Taylor’s deficiency.
Image source: WTHR
She revealed that some children at school have even resorted to bullying him by giving him the nickname “Popeye”.
“Wherever we go people are staring at him and whispering about his eye. In school he is constantly bullied, and people call him, ‘Popeye’, that really hurts, why should he be treated different?”
“I hope people understand how much he needs this prosthetic eye.”
“I really don’t want people thinking I am a bad mother,” she lamented.
This story is a grim reminder to all parents that Nerf guns are not always the best toys to have lying around the house. Children can get hurt even with the supervision of adults.
8 toys that are potentially harmful to children
Image source: PXhere
So was Taylor just unlucky? Or should he not have been allowed to play with toy guns in the first place?
There are studies that indicate playing with toy guns is actually beneficial for your child’s development. But are they really safe enough to risk the level of exposure that might end up in physical injury? The Nerf gun eye injury says otherwise!
Playtime should definitely be fun, but also risk-free as much as possible. Consider avoiding these toys
- Toys with ribbons and strings (choking hazard)
- Toys with sharp points and edges (sharp edges)
- Toys with small parts (choking hazard)
- Toys that make loud noises (hearing loss)
- Toys that children ride on or jump on (falls and bumps)
- Toys with projectiles (facial and eye injuries)
- Toys with magnets (choking hazard)
- Toys with small batteries (choking hazard)
Sources: Yahoo News