Charles County church hosts town hall in wake of 5-year-old boy's tragic bounce house death
Maryland community reacts to 5-year-old bounce house death
A Charles County community is grieving after a 5-year-old boy died while playing in a moon bounce house. A second child also got seriously injured. The horrific incident happened over the weekend during a minor league baseball game. FOX 5's Sierra Fox spoke to people in the community about the incident.
CHARLES COUNTY, Md. - A Charles County church plans to hold a town hall in the wake of a 5-year-old boy killed as a result of an airborne moon bounce house.
A number of Facebook posts from organizations publicly identified the 5-year-old boy as Declan Hicks of La Plata. One of the posts was from South Potomac Church in White Plains, where church organizers said the boy’s grandfather is a church elder.
The town hall at 7 p.m. Monday is meant to serve as a space for the community to grieve and heal, according to church organizers.
According to Charles County officials, the incident happened at the Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf on Friday evening. Wind gusts propelled the moon bounce 15 to 20 feet in the air while children were inside, according to the county. The 5-year-old boy was pronounced dead at a hospital, while another child was treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Dr. Katie Donnelly, a pediatric emergency medicine physician at Children’s National Hospital, said minor injuries are far more common when it comes to moon bounces.
"He was an awesome kid": 5-year-old killed after bounce house goes airborne identified
"We get a broken nose. We get broken bones. We get a concussion, that sort of thing. Those are pretty common. The much more uncommon but often much more serious is when it becomes untethered and becomes airborne and starts tumbling. It can go quite a distance. I have seen two cases in my time now as an emergency room doctor," Dr. Donnelley told FOX 5 Monday.
Operating a bounce house safely requires proper anchoring and monitoring, Donnelley added. She also said people need consider how many children are playing inside of it at the same time.
"I personally don’t recommend anyone under the age of six going into a bounce house. They both don’t have the maturity or coordination to make sure they’re being safe in there without adults around. No flips, no rough-housing," she said.
Lashawn Lewis lives in Charles County and said the tragic incident was tough to hear about.
"My son has enjoyed the baseball games, has enjoyed the family environment," Lewis said. "For a gust of wind to take innocent lives is tragic, it’s heartbreaking, and our hearts cry out for the family, the mother that carry this child, our hearts cry out to her. And I pray that the spirit of the living God will surround her and the family with His presence, peace and comfort."
Monday's town hall will begin at 7 p.m.