A parenting influencer has admitted to driving over her young son and shared the tragic story from the hospital before issuing a desperate plea to other parents
A parenting influencer has admitted that she accidentally ran over her young son and shared the story from the hospital. Kelly Hopton-Jones, a paediatric nurse who posts content about parenting under the Instagram handle @hillside_farmhouse, called the harrowing accident with her son Henry the “worst day of our lives”.
Kelly shared that she was in the car to take her daughter, Lily, to get doughnuts before a dance class, while her husband, Brian, stayed home with 23 month old Henry. She said the day started off normally.
In an instagram post from the same day the accident happened (16 April), which showed her hand grasping her sons’ and the bandages around his arm, US-based Kelly wrote: “Today has been the worst day of our lives. Life can change in the literal blink of an eye.
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“A true nightmare for a parent happened to us today. It started like any normal day. I was taking Lily to get donuts before her dance performance. Brian was staying home with Henry and was going to meet us there. He helped Lily into the car and was waving goodbye between our car and Henry, who was in the garage. In a matter of seconds, our son was run over by our car. I was driving.”
She added that the neighbours “stepped in immediately” to take Lily whilst she and Brian took Henry to the emergency room. Henry had X-rays of his legs, chest and neck, which all came back looking normal. A CT scan also showed that there was no injury to his organs or spinal cord, and a neurological exam showed no head injury.
But, Henry did have fractures to his pelvis, “as well as a few abrasions”. Kelly said: “What stays with me is the doctor saying: ‘He is hurt, but this is something he can recover from’. A true miracle.
“We are in shock. We are so sad. But we are so incredibly grateful. We keep replaying it, trying to understand how this could ahve happened when we were right there. I don’t have that answer. But I do know this has changed us.”
She then pleaded with those reading her post to make sure their children were safe. “Non negotiable to hold or hold hands with young children around vehicles. Do not assume they know or will stay where you last saw them. Even when you are not distracted. Even when you are not rushing. It can still happen in the blink of an eye. We are holding him a little tighter tonight.”
In the caption, she added: “I can’t even let my brain fully go to how different this situation could be right now. It’s so easy to start questioning everything. If the morning had looked different. If B had gone to work like he normally would have, both kids would have been safely in their car seats.
“Why weren’t we holding him. Why didn’t I double check before pulling out. We could drive ourselves crazy with the what ifs, and honestly, we are a little bit. But accidents happen.
“And I keep coming back to what I would tell my own kids one day if this happened to them. It would be a lot kinder than the things we’re telling ourselves right now. Accidents happen, and the only mistakes are the ones we don’t learn from. We’re on the lucky side of a very tragic accident.”
The post divided viewers. Some sent Kelly and her son messages of support. One wrote: “I’m so incredibly sorry.” Another added: “Little Kids are so fast. It saddens me to see people judging when they were not there and especially when a family is going through something so deeply traumatic.”
But others said they found it “weird” that Kelly was posting on the same day that her son was rushed to hospital. One said: “I’m sorry this happened. Creating content from it, the same day it happened…. Is weird. Healing energies to your son.” A second said: “This seems like a day to not be on social media.”
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