A mother is issuing a warning to swimmers this summer: check your pool ladders. She says her daughter was injured by the one on their above-ground pool.<\/p>\n
Yvonne Gonzalez (@gonzalez.66<\/a>) recently posted a TikTok where she claims her daughter\u2019s leg was punctured by exposed fiberglass slivers from the steps of her above-ground pool ladder. And she\u2019s urging other parents to keep an eye out for any structural damage to the steps on their own pools.<\/p>\n Painful swim day<\/p>\n Gonzalez begins her video with a recording of a child crying as a man checks her calf. A text overlay in the video delineates the cause of the kid\u2019s pain. \u201cGuys be careful when your kid or anyone touches these above ground pool ladders,\u201d it reads.<\/p>\n Gonzalez then records herself approaching an above-ground pool in her backyard.<\/p>\n \u201cSo if you guys \u2026 have an above ground pool like ours. Could be Vevor or Summer Waves or whatever, but, all these freaking ladders,\u201d she says. Next, she shows the ladder in question. \u201cThese ladders right here, if I put it in the sun. Let me show you guys,\u201d she narrates as she unhooks the ladder from the pool and begins carrying it away from the pool and under daylight. \u201cI don\u2019t know if you guys know, but, if I put it in the sun. Look at all this, you\u2019re gonna see it a little bit,\u201d Gonzalez says.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know if you guys can see the shiny part but all this \u2026 is like fiberglass, guys. And, it had my daughter over there screaming and crying. I don\u2019t know if you guys can see \u2026 but you see how shiny it is?\u201d she says, zooming in even closer to the ladder.<\/p>\n \u201cWell it got on my daughter\u2019s leg. And she\u2019s been screaming and crying \u2018cause of this fiberglass,\u201d she says \u201cBe careful guys, be careful with your kids when they touch it\u201d. Towards the end of her clip, she shows that the pool\u2019s brand is Funsicle. She adds that they previously had a Summer Waves above-ground model that was constructed similarly.<\/p>\n Her video has 8.3 million views as of this writing.<\/p>\n Fiberglass and the sun don\u2019t mix<\/p>\n According to Wikihow<\/a>, exposure to fiberglass can be a \u201chealth hazard \u2026 [that can] irritate your skin, eyes, and throat.\u201d The website recommends washing skin that\u2019s been punctured by fiberglass shards with soap and warm water. After drying off the affected area, you can use a strip of duct tape to adhere to the fiberglass and extricate remaining particles and shards it from your skin. Similarly, you can shine a light on the area and use a pair of tweezers to remove it.<\/p>\n Creative Safety Supply<\/a> reports that \u201citchy fiberglass ladders\u201d are indeed a real phenomenon. In fact, there\u2019s even a term for it called \u201cfiber-bloom.\u201d A blog on the company\u2019s website featured an interview with Dave Francis, who is the National Safety Director of Little Giant Ladder Systems. Francis says fiber-bloom is caused by exposure to ultraviolet light. \u201cFiberglass ladders are damaged by the sun. It takes a long time,\u201d he reportedly said.<\/p>\n He added that several pool fixtures are routinely made of fiberglass. \u201cIf you\u2019ve ever seen pool equipment, diving boards, benches, slides, in the past, after they\u2019ve sat in the sun for a long time, they start to become brittle and crack. That same thing happens with fiberglass ladders,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n The Big Lead has reached out to Funsicle via email for more information on the materials used in their pool\u2019s ladders. Gonzalez has also been contacted via TikTok direct message for further comment.<\/p>\n @gonzalez.66<\/a> #fyp<\/a> #viral<\/a> #becareful<\/a> #smh\ud83e\udd26\ud83c\udffb\u200d\u2640\ufe0f<\/a> #my<\/a> \u266c original sound \u2013 Ivonne Gonzalez<\/a>
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