KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |Hidden Dangers On Your Local Playground

Hidden Dangers On Your Local Playground

Dr. Carey Clark with Azalea Orthopedics says there are some dangers on every playground that many parents don't think about.

"The monkey bars are the biggest problem. The kids are very small and a lot of times, they're swinging from bar to bar, and they try to reach that last bar, and they can't quite get it.  They're swinging up in the air, and they can't quite get it, and they fall on their wrist and break their wrist, or they break their elbow," says Clark.

That's what happened to 6-year-old Alex Flora.

"I fell off the monkey bars cause they were really slippery. I felt like it (my wrist) was broken. It feels like something is really, really sore," says Alex.

She broke through her growth plate and was supposed to simply get a cast, but a new set of x-rays showed her bone was moving.

The doctor gave her parents two options.

"Option number one; leave it just the way it is. What's going to happen? She doesn't have surgery.  She gets put in a cast. She might do just fine, but she might not.  Another option is take her back to the operating room," says Clark.

If not treated properly, Alex could have problems with her bone development, so her parents opted for surgery.

Walter Flora says, "As young as she is and with it being a growth plate, I want to make sure that it grows back the best that it can," says Walter.

Despite the broken bone, Alex says she'll head straight back to the monkey bars as soon as she's better, but says she'll probably be more careful the next time.

Doctors suggest putting smaller children on lower monkey bars so they don't have as far to fall.  They also suggest spotting small children until they are old enough to make it safely across.

Lindsay Wilcox/Reporting: lwilcox@kltv.com