you parents be careful out there...

[kayakmom]

<p>Mother killed in fall from UNC dorm bunk
The mother of a first-year University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill student fell from a dorm bunk bed in late August, hit her head and died, according to the News & Observer. </p>

<p>Donna Sykes, 49, was visiting her daughter, Jesse, 19, who had just transferred from a community college. Jesse Sykes has cerebral palsy and does not have a roommate, so her mother stayed with her to help her adjust to college life, the News & Observer reported. </p>

<p>Jesse Sykes told the Rocky Mount Telegram that she had a special bond with her mother: "We were together all the time. If we had a problem, we'd discuss it. We'd compromise. Sometimes she'd win. Sometimes I'd win."</p>

<p>Since the fatal fall, the university has seen a spike in requests for bedrails. Some schools require the installment of safety rails on bunks, unless a student signs a waiver.</p>

<p>To read the full News & Observer article, click here.</p>

<p>Campus Overload is a daily must-read</p>

<p>(working link added by Moderator here on 9/11/10) UNC</a> fields bedrail requests after deadly fall from bunk - Education - NewsObserver.com</p>

[siliconvalleymom]

<p>The first thing I thought of when I read that story was the long thread from this summer, where a mom was worried about her daughter’s safety on a bunkbed.
We all assured her that it was very safe and that kids who got hurt were drunk or horsing around.
Then yikes-it’s the MOM in this story that dies.
Bedrails seem like a must.</p>

[starbright]

<p>^I disagree with this logic and various policies and decisions made upon singular events. One death tells you nothing about the probability. And we simply can not (or should even try to) possibly prevent all possible very low probability bad events. If someone tells me that 5% of falls result in death that is one thing worth responding to, but if its .0001% falls result in death, it seems completely irrelevant. </p>

<p>I really haven’t a clue about the statistics in this case (nor a strong opinion about bunkbed designs). But my point is that it should be real statistics, and not singular newsworthy events, that drive our judgments and decisions.</p>

<p>For those interested, here are the real statistics. Reading this, I would not care of my adult child had a bunkrail:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr00/bunkbed.html[/url]”>http://www.cpsc.gov/businfo/frnotices/fr00/bunkbed.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

[poetgrl]

<p>God that story just makes me feel incredibly SAD for the daughter, deeply so.</p>

[sk8rmom]

<p>That poor girl…how awful to have that happen to your mom and especially under those circumstances!</p>

<p>My sister and I had bunk beds when were teenagers. I had several accidental falls resulting in stiches and a broken tooth…and then my dad “debunked” us. I’ll bet there are no real statistics for the number of people who fall out of bunkbeds and are injured. I wouldn’t let my sister put a dresser or night table next to the bed for fear of breaking my neck on it!</p>

[Shrinkrap]

<p>My D is currently in a “lofted” bed, near a window, on the 18th floor in NYC. She says she’s afraid she will fall out of bed and out of the window.</p>

[siliconvalleymom]

<p>What’s the downside in a bed rail?
To me, it’s like a seatbelt for your bunkbed. I buckle up every single time I get in a car, and I’ve never been in an accident. I would want a bedrail for my daughter for the same reason, so I never have to worry about it again.</p>

[Skyhook]

<p>There is no possible way on earth my son would agree to a bedrail on his lofted bed, and my husband would roll his eyes if I even mentioned it.</p>

<p>But I would feel better if he had one.</p>

[midwesterner]

<p>At my freshman son’s college, I noticed the bed rail was bolted to the frame. (Bed was fully lofted with a desk underneath and could not be changed.) I guess some schools think a rail is necessary!</p>

[calmom]

<p>The problem is that we don’t know anything about the bed, the mother’s physical health, and the circumstances that led to the accident. From the news report:</p>

<p>

Students can set each bed as low as 3inches off the floor to as high as 77 inches - almost 6-1/2 feet.</p>

<hr>

<p>When junior Matt White was setting up his room up at the start of the fall semester, he first raised his bed as high as it would go.</p>

<p>It wasn’t stable.</p>

<p>“It rocks back and forth as you try to get up into it,” White said. “It gets wobbly.”</p>

<p>Eventually, he dropped it about a foot, still high enough to fit the desk and refrigerator he put underneath

</p>

<p>Read more: [UNC</a> fields bedrail requests after deadly fall from bunk - Education - NewsObserver.com](<a href=“http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/10/672936/unc-fields-bedrail-requests-after.html#ixzz0zBovb26D]UNC”>http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/10/672936/unc-fields-bedrail-requests-after.html#ixzz0zBovb26D)</p>

<p>So its possible that the mom lofted the bed too high and it became unstable – and of course there are many other possibilities.</p>

[Modadunn]

<p>This is tragic on a couple of levels. While I feel for the daughter with Cerebral Palsy, I am most concerned with the parent who actually goes to college with their child. If she didn’t feel her daughter could adjust/adapt to college life, she should have waited to send her. Since the girl had been to Community College, I am guessing the “child” in this case was closer to 21 than to 18. And while I don’t want to dismiss the death because it’s beyond sad, this was completely avoidable. Despite her child’s disability, it was time to let go before she started college away from home, and now she will not be here to witness her daughter’s success in life.</p>

[babyontheway]

<p>I have no problems with adults sleeping in bunk beds without rails.</p>

<p>Why?</p>

<p>I’m a sleepwalker and slept in a bunkbed while at college. My parents worried that I’d start sleepwalking and fall out of bed. </p>

<p>Wrong.</p>

<p>When I went sleepwalking, I crawled down the ladder (yes, in my sleep) just like I did when I was awake. Then I started wandering around my room. Not cool but not dangerous at all.</p>

[stevensmama]

<p>S’s lofted bed has the bedrail attached. It comes in pretty handy–he clips a tray to it to hold his alarm clock and glasses.</p>

[ginab591]

<p>@ siliconvalleymom–well the rail UMD provided me nearly killed my freshman roommate. If she hadn’t been looking when it swung down, the deep gash that ended up in the post of her bead would have been in her forehead.
But it was just another freak accident like this one. Fortunately in this one the worst was avoided.</p>

[psych_2]

<p>Modadun, I have CP and went to college 580-ish miles from home and am going to grad school 1200 miles from home. I live completely independently (minus a standard cleaning service, but get no personal assistance*). While in college, I joined a sorority (was an officer in it, too), held 2 jobs for my last two years of college, TA’ed, and did research (published, too) on top of a social life, a double major, and a minor. I received a fellowship to grad school as well as an assistantship. Sophomore summer of college, I held an internship in a city several states away (and got glowing reviews). Would you say I am “college ready”?</p>

<p>Guess what? Both when I first moved to college and when I first moved to grad school city, my mother stayed for a few days to a week (before classes started or a no more than a day or two after). My CP necessitates that my living area be set up in certain ways so that I can safely and easily navigate (setting up furniture in the right way, for example) and makes it hard for me to a lot of packing/unpacking and furniture re-arranging. Thus, it was helpful to have my mom help get that set up, especially given the almost inevitability of “kinks” (missing grab bars, dysfunctional door openers) that need to be sorted out. If push comes to shove, I can (and have) handle(d) these things myself, it can be difficult when you need the mobility to be able to get out and do something about things that are impairing said mobility. In the future, I assume I’ll have some combo of friends, family, spouse, parents, etc., to help with these “kinks” when I move in the future.</p>

<p>ETA: Before someone asked about work, any accommodations I’ve needed on jobs have been very minimal, and in all cases, my bosses have made efforts to make sure I could navigate my work space (asking how I wanted furniture arranged, mainly). Navigating one’s living space is much more complex, as it multifunctional in nature.</p>

<p>*ETA2: Also, just to clarify, getting PA services and living independently are not considered mutually exclusive, at least not in most rehab literature.</p>

<p>Your comment is misguided and, frankly, offensive. That, and the OP clearly states the D is 19.</p>

<p>My heart does break for the family. :(</p>

[GA2012MOM]

<p>Heck, my D who has no disabilities would welcome me to stay with her for a few days in her dorm room, and if she did need assistance I wouldn’t leave until I knew she was comfortable with her room and campus. What happened to this mom was a tragedy, and the reason that she was there is irrelevant.</p>

<p>Psych, why did I think you were male until now?</p>

[psych_2]

<p>I don’t know… but maybe I should use more blatantly female usernames?</p>

<p>(Funny thing is, my subfield is about 90% female, actually!)</p>

<p>A tragedy indeed… I wonder if the D was able to change rooms, if she did stay at the school for this semester. I hope so.</p>

[Modadunn]

<p>

Your comment is misguided and, frankly, offensive. That, and the OP clearly states the D is 19.

</p>

<p>Yes, I was incorrect on the age. And I apologize if you were offended. But I do not think it is misguided or offensive to believe it odd that a parent stay in the dorm with her child. I know several people with CP and who also get along quite well in life with but a few accommodations, like yourself. So it seemed to me there might have been some underestimation going on. You say your mother stayed with you and so, I can only assume it happens. For myself, had my child needed me, I would have stayed in a hotel, risen early and gone to bed late with the thinking that I’d want my kid to have as “normal” a start with her floor and dorm mates as possible. </p>

<p>In truth, most rooms designed and set up as singles don’t have additional beds in the room. </p>

<p>Finally, I said it was tragic on a couple of levels. And it is. Here is this child whose Mother was clearly in a place of trying to help her and then died, essentially, because of it. That’s a lot of guilt (even if only self-imposed) for anyone to deal with. On top of that, she now has lost a huge support in her life both literally and figuratively, and is unable to share her future accomplishments and her growing independence. To think my heart doesn’t also break for this child and family is wildly inaccurate.</p>

[ginab591]

<p>Actually a lot of handicapped rooms, (I’ve seen this in several schools) especially if they’re for a person who needs a little more room, are doubles when they are not being used as a handicapped room, so thinking that UNC still had another bed in there isn’t unreasonable.</p>

[psych_2]

<p>

Finally, I said it was tragic on a couple of levels. And it is. Here is this child whose Mother was clearly in a place of trying to help her and then died, essentially, because of it. That’s a lot of guilt (even if only self-imposed) for anyone to deal with. On top of that, she now has lost a huge support in her life both literally and figuratively, and is unable to share her future accomplishments and her growing independence. To think my heart doesn’t also break for this child and family is wildly inaccurate.

</p>

<p>I totally agree with this part of your post and never intended to apply that you didn’t feel this way. My sincere apologies if it came across that way.</p>

<p>FWIW, my mom did the staying in the hotel thing until she realized it was cheaper and easier for her just to stay on my floor/couch (when I had one) when visiting or helping me move in or out. </p>

<p>Your post makes much more sense in context now, by the way. Thank you for the clarification.</p>