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Mom shares devastating furniture-tip-over story : 'Don't think that it can't happen to you'

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Posted at 5:20 AM, Feb 09, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-09 11:33:52-05

Kim Amato openly shares the story of what happened to her daughter, so no other family has to suffer as her family has.

"My three-year-old twin daughter, Meghan, was killed by her dresser on the Saturday before Christmas in 2004," said Amato who founded the non-profit, Meghan's Hope and the parent network group called Parents Against Tip-overs.

"It happened in the early morning while the rest of our family was asleep."

Out of her grief came advocacy -- a way to honor her little girl. Amato is dedicated to spreading awareness about furniture tip-overs.

"At the time I thought she was the only one this had ever happened to and that surely if I just shared her story, she would be the last one that it would happen to. But that wasn't the case," she said.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recently released its furniture tip-over report.

"Tip-overs happen far too often. What we're seeing is about 22,500 emergency room visits each year as a result of tip-overs," said CPSC Chair Alex Hoehn-Saric.

Hoehn-Saric said the tip-overs have resulted in more than 580 deaths since 2000 and four out of five of them are children.

"We're working on a mandatory rule with respect to clothing storage units, dressers, to make them safer, to be built better," he said.

Child safety advocates insist you take action now and not wait for a federal rule.

If your new TV or your new piece of furniture didn't come with an anchoring kit, Hoehn-Saric says, go to your local hardware store and get one.

"For under $20 and it takes less than twenty minutes to install. So it's something as people are moving furniture or getting a new TV, to think about," he added.

Amato won't stop sharing her story because she knows how fast your life can change forever.

"In fact, you can be in the same room and be powerless to stop a tip-over from happening. So, please don't think that it can't happen to you. Please go out and buy those anchoring kits and use them today."

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