3 years ago
VIENNA, Va. (WUSA) -- Jodi McDermott was holding her son Rory's hand as they rode the escalator at Tyson's Galleria Mall last month, when the child suddenly started to stagger.
"I pulled, and I pulled, and I couldn't get him free so I knew something was wrong," she tells 9NEWS NOW. Rory's croc sandal was stuck in the escalator and they were nearly to the bottom.
"I knew I had to do something quick or he was going to lose something," McDermott recalls.
She pulled Rory free but the damage had been done. His toenail was nearly ripped off. He was rushed to a local hospital. There were no broken bones, but it did get infected. Rory couldn't wear a shoe for a week.
"If I had known, I would never have let him wear those shoes," McDermott says. She says she's more convinced of that than ever after an internet search of "Crocs."
"Kids have lost toes; one had his foot stuck for nearly two hours ... It's not worth it."
It's not just mall escalators either. An airport in Atlanta is reporting nearly a dozen so called shoe entrapments. Metro in DC says there have been more than 30 shoe entrapments this summer.
"It's alarming," David Lacosse told us. He's in charge of Metro's 588 escalators.
"We've started a public service campaign to warn people of the dangers; we're making station announcements too," he says.
Metro has also posted warning signs at the stations, featuring a crocodile talking about the dangers of soft-soled sandals and escalators.
"We're trying to prevent a regrettable accident," Lacosse tells 9NEWS NOW.
McDermott says her son no longer wants to ride the escalator and he's having nightmares. She wants to spread the word about his accident to keep it from happening to other kids.
"The danger will be there until people stop wearing Crocs on escalators," she says.
Written by Audrey Barnes9NEWS NOW
