When it comes to products marketed towards children, most people don’t realize just how much rigorous testing each product goes through before it hits the shelves. After all, there are dozens and dozens of safety regulations that all consumer products have to follow, and when it comes to children’s products, the protocols are even more severe. That’s why it’s so surprising to read a story like this. Something as normal as a children’s shoe — and a very cute one at that — is responsible for causing distress to a family, specifically a little girl who had no idea of the pain she was going to have to endure. Sure, everyone is safe in the end — but one has to wonder what kind of oversight would cause a product like this to be sold to children. Warning: The photos you are about to see are disturbing, but it’s a story that needs to be shared.Lisa Connor, the girl’s mother, said that she wore these jelly shoes around the house for about 30 minutes after receiving them for her second birthday. It wasn’t long after that she began screaming in pain.
Horrified, Lisa shared the pictures of Esme’s injuries on social media to warn other parents not to buy the shoes, which were a bargain at only eight pounds. Unfortunately, sometimes you get what you pay for.
“Esme was in absolute agony. I couldn’t believe it because she had only been wearing them for half an hour. It’s not like she was running around in them for hours. She was just plodding around the house and then came running in in tears.”
A spokeswoman for Next said: “We are terribly sorry for the distress caused and we are taking this matter very seriously. We’ve asked for this pair of shoes to be returned so we can carry out a detailed inspection of this shoe, since this is the first complaint of this nature that we’ve received.”
“I think they should be taken off sale before any more children get hurt,” Lisa said in an interview. “There was so much blood and she wouldn’t stop crying. Her dad had to spend an hour calming her down. It spoiled her birthday weekend really.”
According to Lisa, you don’t expect something as innocuous as a shoe to cause this much damage, but when it does, you have to begin to question the manufacturers. What do you think: Is this just a common occurrence related to breaking in new shoes, or is this shoe more dangerous than the rest?
