“Boy, 12, survives ‘freak’ trampoline accident after metal spring shot into his back ‘like a bullet’” by Madeline Farber

Reporter Madeline Farber describes how a 12-year-old boy from the United Kingdom was jumping on his family’s trampoline one day when a metal coil from broke off and shot into his back. Jamie Quinan was quickly rushed to the hospital, finding out there that the coil was only centimeters away from his spine. With Jamie’s bravery, his parents are using this freak accident to advocate for trampoline safety everywhere. Farber points out that there were 94,000 ER injuries that were due to trampoline accidents in 2012. The American Academy of Pediatrics warns parents that children under six are most at risk for a trampoline injury. Jamie told Farber that he can still feel the coil in his spine, but he’s getting better and is relieved that it wasn’t worse.

To begin with, I noticed that the story covered a very bizarre topic. The article points out how common trampoline injuries are, but I have never personally heard of a metal coil popping off and impaling someone. Another thing I noticed FOXdo with this article was they used a lot of visuals, even though this story was very short and simple. It lacked background information but made that up with graphic images and pictures of the boy holding up the spring in a heroic manner. 

Comments

  1. fuglsang says

    This is definitely a Fox news story, Kassidy. For reasons you mention. It’s a bit bizarre. It’s going to hit readers’ emotions (human interest). And it will more than likely make them angry.

    It’s also very Fox in that it does not overtly suggest that the trampoline might have been defective. That would be anti-business.