Serious playground injuries: What to check before your children play
Jillian Richey was a beautiful little girl. At nine years old, she was the oldest of three children.
Jill, as her family called her, was playing at Ross Elementary School’s playground while her younger brother was playing t-ball on the nearby field.
Jill ran underneath an old metal slide that her father, Charlie, estimated weighed over 200 lbs. Jill swung on it, and the slide came down on top of her.
“There was a gentleman, a big guy, next to the slide and he picked it off her and she ran like a wounded deer to me, so I’m thinking she’s okay. She said, ‘Daddy, am I going to have to go to the hospital?’ I said, ‘I think so.’ That was the last time she said something to me,” said Charlie Richey.
Jill died later that afternoon at the hospital.
Richey has now made it part of his life’s purpose to make sure that playgrounds are safe for other children.
The Ross Elementary playground where Jill was hurt was replaced after her accident, but fast forward to 2023 and that equipment that was replaced is now 30 years old.
Like many school districts, North Hills has left it up to the PTO to raise money to replace aging playground equipment.
“I believe the schools should pay for it, should install them, and they should pay for them, not the parents raising money for a structure on school property,” said Richey.
This June, the North Hills school board listened to Richey and agreed, voting to create a capital fund to replace aging equipment at all four elementary schools.
During that meeting, North Hills Superintendent Patrick Mannarino said, “This is something we should have done in the past. I can’t change the past, but moving forward, we can do better. "
Serious playground accidents are more common than you may think. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 200,000 children are seen in hospital emergency rooms every year after a playground accident, and on average, 15 children die from playground accidents each year.
Richey says it’s not just a question of who pays to replace the aging equipment. He says there are no mandatory inspections of school playgrounds.
“Funny if you own a business and you’re six foot up on the ladder, you could be in trouble with OSHA if your ladder doesn’t meet certain requirements, yet we let our children play six feet and we don’t force legislation to have the school districts or community adhere to safe playground regulations,” he said.
Richey would like to see legislation requiring all public playgrounds to be regularly inspected.
At the McKnight Village Park near his home, where his grandchildren often play, he regularly checks to make sure the bolts are tight and looks at the spacing between bars to make sure a child’s head or neck won’t be trapped. On the surface surrounding the equipment, he checks to make sure the mulch is deep enough to cushion an impact with the ground.
At the McKnight Village playground, there’s a plaque in Jill Richey’s honor — a dedication for a little girl whose memory lives on.
For a public playground safety checklist, visit https://www.cpsc.gov/safety-education/safety-guides/playgrounds/public-playground-safety-checklist
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