Deaths from falling TVs happen ‘more often than you think’

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Updated: February 18, 2012 8:12AM

The family of Gianna Hadjis, a 4-year-old girl killed by a falling TV, hopes her death at least gives another child a chance at life.

Her father, Adam Hadjis, said family members decided to donate her heart and got a call Monday morning about a child around the same age who was in need of one.

“We decided to donate her heart to that child,” Hadjis said. “I hope she saves someone’s life.”

Gianna, of University Park, died Sunday in what police call are calling a “horrible accident.”

An autopsy Monday confirmed Gianna died from “crushing cranio cerebral injuries from a falling television set,” according to the Cook County medical examiner’s office, which ruled the death an accident.

University Park Police Chief Mel Davis said the older box-style TV fell on Gianna early Sunday afternoon at her home in the 600 block of Sullivan Lane.

Gianna was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she underwent surgery to relieve pressure on her brain. She was declared dead at 2:54 p.m., the medical examiner’s office said.

Adults were present at the time of the incident, Davis said. A preliminary investigation showed no foul play or negligence, he said, calling it a “horrible accident”.

The state’s Department of Children and Family Services is not investigating, spokesman Kendall Marlowe said.

When a reporter visited the home Monday, a man in the driveway said Gianna’s mother was not ready to talk about the child’s death.

Gianna was playing when the TV tipped and fell off a table, family members said.

“Most people are more concerned with what their children are watching than the TV itself,” Adam Hadjis said.

Falling TVs recently killed two other Chicago-area children. In November, 3-year-old Shaniya Singleton, of Chicago, died when a television fell on her at home while she was playing with siblings. Karl Clermont, 6, died in late October when a television fell on him in Arlington Heights.

Between 2000 and 2010, the Consumer Product Safety Commission received reports of 169 children age 18 or younger being killed as a result of falling TVs, according to a CPSC report released in September.

The problem often stems from TV sets not placed on proper bases, said Brian Eble, vice president of brand development for Peerless-AV, an Aurora-based company that sells mooring systems designed to prevent such mishaps.

“It happens more often than you think,” Eble said. “People put the TV on a table or dresser or cabinet, leave things like the remote or toys near the TV, and then the child will sometimes pull the TV down when trying to get to the remote or toy. Some of these TVs can weigh 100 pounds. A lot of the weight distribution is toward the front, where the glass screen is.”

He suggested that TV sets should be placed on stands approved for bigger TVs and said installing mooring devices helps prevent a TV from tipping off the base. TVs also can be mounted to walls to prevent such accidents if properly installed.

Contributing: AP, Steve Metsch