Parents, Grandparents, and caregivers-take note!

Pretty scary-playground equipment at fast food places isn't always as safe as it looks-although they have soft padding it isn't always enough to prevent injury.

In August, 2005, then 8-year-old Jacob Buckett, his father and younger sister went to lunch at a Burger King in Temecula, Calif. In a matter of minutes, Jacob climbed up the horizontal support poles of the play structure and suddenly lost his grip. He came crashing down, cracking his head on the tile floor. His father Kevin recalls that the horrific noise sounded "as if you took a bowling ball and dropped it about ten feet on the floor." Jacob suffered a traumatic brain injury that left him with permanent, lifelong impairments...........
The Buckett family claims the franchise owner and its parent company Burger King knew the jungle gym was dangerous but never bothered to fix the problem. They argued the playground had significant safety risks such as a lack of "no-climb netting" around the structural poles and not enough floor padding. They say the restaurant owner knew about the potential hazards because of prior accidents.
In addition, they said the restaurant's franchise owner, The Breckenridge Group, failed to safeguard the poles that were used by children daily as monkey bars. The restaurant never posted warning signs and refused to retrofit the structure. Even after Jacob's near-death experience, the playground remained unchanged... three years later.

So the child wasn't just climbing and fell; he was in an area that should have been off limits-blocked off by netting-and was an area kids played in constantly that wasn't safe. Parents assume that because this is a major food chain that all safety precautions are taken care of and it is safe for young children to climb on their own.

This is a parent's nightmare. This poor boy-Today, Jacob Buckett is 12 years old, with the maturity level of a child half his age. The brain damage left him with partial paralysis and severe emotional and cognitive problems. He cannot wipe himself after using the bathroom. He gets frustrated easily and often has temper tantrums. He lacks impulse control, which could lead to dangerous behavior. "Before the accident, he would talk all the time about getting married and having children," said his mother, Julie, who now wonders, "Will he ever have the mental ability to even take care of himself?"