Mountain Buggy saves a baby's life...twice

[helaina]

Yesterday a 7-month-old girl survived a building collapsing on her because her MBUD folded into a cocoon to protect her. Several years ago a child was strapped in a MB when the stroller was hit by a car. The stroller was thrown but the child remained safely strapped in.

Story:

NZ baby-buggy turns life saver in NY building collapse
18 July 2005
By KENT ATKINSON

Engineers who made the baby-buggy that saved the life
of an American infant when a building fell on it in
downtown New York have asked for the crumpled stroller
to be returned to New Zealand.

They hope a closer look may give some design clues
that could be used in future designs, says the chief
engineer for Tritec Manufacturing of Lower Hutt, Jesse
Muru Paenga,

Afterwards, it will take place of honour among a
collection of Mountain Buggy designs dating from the
early models that pioneered big-wheeled strollers for
robust use in the outdoors, he said.

The stroller, a "double urban" model, folded around
Abby Lurensky, aged seven months, when a partly
demolished supermarket collapsed on her and a nanny
last Thursday, her family said.

The uninjured baby was released from hospital after
checks, but her nanny is still there, with a broken
arm and broken leg.

Paramedics told the New York Times that the baby
initially was unresponsive and turning blue when
bystanders dug through a tangle of concrete and steel
to free her crumpled carriage from the wreckage of a
supermarket being demolished.

But the child was largely unhurt by the shower of
debris thanks to cover from her NZ-made stroller and
nanny, Brunilda Tirado.
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The strollers, made of padded fabric stretched over
lightweight aluminium frames, ride on 30cm air-filled
tyres and sell for more than $US600 ($NZ901) each.

Alan Jurysta, president of Sycamore Kids of Denver,
the American importer of the strollers, is giving the
family a new one.

And, in Lower Hutt, Mr Muru Paenga said he was "over
the moon" that the baby had survived.

"That's the number one thing - if it (the stroller)
helped to save the baby - that's just great," he said.

Tritec had been involved with the manufacture of
Mountain Buggy designs since the strollers were first
manufactured 12 years ago and, after taking over the
company last year, had a collection of different
models and designs from previous years.

Mr Muru Paenga said that several years ago a Mountain
Buggy had been reported to have kept safe a child
strapped in it despite having been thrown more than
30m when struck by a vehicle. But he emphasised it was
not possible to design strollers strong enough to hold
up a building or handle being run over.

The frame of the 16kg urban double stroller is made of
a single piece of aluminium alloy, and the design
resembles the strong A-frame of a house.

Oren Adler, 34, a financial adviser who was walking by
the partly demolished supermarket at West 100th Street
when a flood of bricks and plaster spilled onto
Broadway, said that within seconds 30 pairs of hands
were digging at the pile. They clawed through dust and
rubble and cleared away a concrete slab to find an arm
sticking out.

The crowd of construction workers and neighbours
pulled Ms Tirado free, her arms covered in blood, and
kept going. Digging away before emergency workers
arrived they passed the bricks back from hand to hand.

The crowd lifted a steel beam high enough for a
construction worker, Alfredo Ramos, 50, to crawl into
the wreckage: "The steel beam was about two inches
(5cm) from its face. I pulled the baby out," he said.

Abby's parents, Steven and Heidi Lurensky, said Ms
Tirado, 56, was a hero.

The New York Times reported the incident was
extraordinary for all involved, "including that
life-saving stroller". It was the 2004 model of a line
of Mountain Buggy urban single and urban double
strollers. Models from the 2005 line were recalled
last week because a handlebar could fall off.

Mr Muru Paenga said some city dwellers had found the
handlebar either cracked or broke when the stroller
was pulled backwards up a lot of stairs. The urban
strollers had been designed for walking rather than
robust outdoor use such as jogging. Most of the
problems had been reported in New York and Sweden.

Mountain Buggy director Charlie Fairbrother said the
recall of the 2005 model was to replace a plastic part
with one made of nylon: "There's been some design
changes which have made it stronger."

Both he and Mr Muru Paenga said the New York incident
provided some welcome good news after the recall.

The Manhattan building collapse is being investigated
by the district attorney's office and health and
safety officials, and the city council's buildings
department has charged the demolition company with
three alleged safety violations.

[sbeck212]

Ironic how there was a recall like a day later for the handle bars coming off...

Jordana

Mom of
Daniel 5/17/02
Jacob 4/9/04
Zachary 4/9/04

[strollerqueen]

The company actually issued the reacall a while ago. It's not that the handlebars come off. But there have been incidents in which the adjustable bar cracked when people dragged it backwards up the stairs. I do the same thing all the time, but I have an older model, without any plastic on the handle, so it is fine.