5-year-old injured on new Firemen's Park playground

An accident last week at Firemen’s Park sent a 5-year-old Throckmorton girl to the hospital, after her fingers were caught in a new piece of playground equipment.

Local first responders were dispatched to Firemen’s Park shortly after 2 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 28, following a report of a child having her fingers trapped in a piece of playground equipment.

When officers from Graham Police Department arrived at the park, they observed a crowd of people around the “merry-go-round,” as well as an off-duty Graham EMS employee, who was attempting to calm the child.

According to a GPD incident report, the child had the fingertips of her right hand trapped in a narrow opening between the steel outer retaining ring and the standing platform of the equipment.

The officers, assisted by deputies from the Young County Sheriff’s Office, were eventually able to lodge a knife into the opening, along with multiple screwdrivers, and eventually pry the standing platform enough so that they could free the child’s fingers. The officers were also assisted by bystanders, who prevented the equipment from moving.

One of the GPD officers observed that three of the child’s fingers were severely cut. An officer applied pressure to the wound, while one of the deputies carried the child to a patrol vehicle.

Due to the severity of the injuries and EMS not yet arriving on scene, the GPD officers, along with a YCSO deputy, transported the child to Graham Regional Medical Center.

Upon arrival, emergency room staff completed X-rays and evaluated the child’s injuries. The staff informed the officers that the child’s “right hand middle finger and ring finger were severed and the pinky finger had a laceration.”

The child was airlifted from GRMC to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.

The new playground equipment at Firemen’s Park, which includes the “Inclusive Orbit,” the feature involved in the accident, became accessible to the public in early December. The Inclusive Orbit includes a spinning platform, similar to a merry-go-round, but is flush to the ground to allow for inclusive access.

City Manager Eric Garretty and the project engineer conducted a walkthrough inspection Nov. 15, 2023 of the playground and determined that all equipment had been properly installed. According to Garretty, the walkthrough inspection was required prior to certification of final payment to the vendor.

During the Graham Parks Department board meeting Wednesday, Jan. 3, Mayor Alex Heartfield said the equipment is currently accessible but has been temporarily secured with a “wedge” to prevent it from spinning.

“We are working with the contractor that provided the equipment, who's working with the manufacturer of the equipment, to determine if there is anything that can or needs to be done to secure that equipment in a better way,” Heartfield said. “Until we know, we could be looking at a month to three months before the merry-go-round is back in service.”

It was announced during the parks meeting that the city had decided to indefinitely postpone the new equipment ribbon cutting, which was originally scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 6.

“I don't think we can schedule the ribbon cutting yet, and I think it would be inappropriate to have it this weekend,” Heartfield said. “...We will have it. We're just going to have to wait.”

The mayor said the playground is still being utilized by the community.

“Even since that incident, there's still a lot of people playing in that playground. So every day I drive by there, there's 10 to 15 cars parked in front of there, and I haven't seen that in years,” he said.