Toddler dies after chiropractor table lowers onto him
An 18-month-old Moundsview boy who died after an incident at a Shoreview chiropractic office was gravely injured when he got caught under a mechanical chiropractor's examination table, authorities said Friday.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office said deputies responded to a call around 5 p.m. Thursday to First Chiropractic. Paramedics performed CPR on the boy and he was taken to Regions Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Sheriff's officials said in a news release that the boy died of head trauma.
"We don't have an indication that there's a crime involved. It appeared from our people on the scene at the time that it was just a tragic accident that happened and this poor family suffered this loss," said Ramsey County Sheriff's spokesman Randy Gustafson.
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Authorities said the boy's mother, Amy Elizabeth Newton, was receiving treatment at the time. Newton's son was in the examination room.
Gustafson said that the toddler crawled under part of a treatment table. The boy apparently activated a switch or lever that lowered it on him, while his mother was strapped on top of it. There were also two other children in the room.
"She was helpless to help her child," Gustafson said.
Gustafson said Newton screamed for help. Clinic staff raised the table and started CPR.
The sheriff's office said the treatment table is a Triton DTS (Dynamic Tension System) TRT-600.
