Pa. Woman Suing IKEA for Son's Death

A Pennsylvania woman is suing IKEA, saying the company is to blame for the death of her two-year-old son, who died last year after a dresser fell over on him.

Jackie Collas of West Chester filed the lawsuit in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court last week, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

Collas’ son, Curren, died on Feb. 25, 2014 shortly after she discovered him crushed by a dresser manufactured by IKEA. He was rushed to Paoli Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

She is suing the Scandinavian chain for wrongful death and negligence, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The dresser, purchased at the Conshohocken store, came without hardware to secure it to the wall despite IKEA being aware of the tip over hazard with vertical dressers, the lawsuit says.

Following the incident, Collas launched a blog, attempting to spread awareness of the importance of anchoring furniture around young children.

On the blog, she writes in detail about her son’s death, including sharing details of the morning she found him pinned under the piece of furniture.

“The reason I had to share this story with so much detail is that I don’t ever want to forget. I am so afraid that my memories of Curren will fade. I wanted to share this because I want you to learn from my mistakes. Bolt EVERYTHING down. Dressers, book shelves, TVs, anything that could possibly fall,” Collas writes on her blog, Heaven Has a Hero.

IKEA operates 361 stores worldwide. On its website, the company now has a page dedicated to offering tips on how to prevent tip-over accidents.

“Every two weeks a child dies in the U.S. from furniture, appliances or TVs tipping over, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. By working together, we can help prevent these tragedies and make the home a safer place,” IKEA’s website says.

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