How a TV Opened My Scalp Like a Banana Peel [Killer Tvs]

Yesterday I published an article on how kids are dying because of old CRT TVs falling onto them. Today, reader Russell Warren sent to us this scary photo, and the terrifying story about how a Magnavox set almost killed him:

I read your story on falling TVs yesterday, and I wanted to show you this picture of me, age four. That's when a TV tried to kill me.

I was simply trying to put the remote back on top of our 27" wood console Magnavox television, when I slipped while climbing onto the TV cabinet.

Instead of just falling to the ground, I grabbed the top edge of the Magnavox as I tumbled down to the ground. I hit the ground first, then the TV followed with one of the corners squarely landing on my forehead. The television slid off my head, taking about a quarter of my scalp with it.

The babysitter—my parents were at the movies—described it as "if someone had opened my scalp like they would open a banana peel." I ran around the house screaming in shock, but the babysitter—who later became my mother's best friend—did everything right, kept her calm, and called 911.

One hundred and forty-four stitches later, and enough hospital ice cream to please any 4-year-old boy, I was on my way to a steady recovery. I had some temporary nerve and muscle damage that affected things like my eyebrows, but I was lucky enough to have no long-lasting damage that I'm aware of. I'm obviously incredibly lucky that I've been left unscathed short of a very large scar across my forehead. As you know, there are many other people that haven't been as lucky.

I would love it if you could post my story and my picture in Gizmodo. It would be great if my story can help make other people aware of the significant dangers of untethered CRTs or flat screen TVs.

Thanks Russell. Hopefully, this will make more people aware of this problem.



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