When you meet Hallie Mouritsen, you cant tell that there's anything wrong with this beautiful five year-old girl. But if you look closer at Hallie's left hand, her fingers are cut off at the knuckle. The doctor described them as being "crushed, mutilated and non-viable."
How did it happen? Hallie was feeding paper into a shredder in her home when her fingers got caught in its powerful blades. According to her father, Matt, "it grabbed her fingers and just began pulling."
And Hallie's not the only one. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has issued a safety alert after receiving 50 reports of injuries from paper shredders since 2000, most involving children younger than five.
Mr. Mouritsen is an accounting professor in Salt Lake City, Utah who often works at home. He says he had just opened the shredder for the first time and after using it, left the room briefly. Hallie, who was just two, went into the room with her older sister.
"The next thing I know, while I'm making dinner, my five year-old is yelling, she's stuck, she's stuck!" he told Inside Edition's Investigative Reporter Matt Meagher.
"I just knelt there and held her little face in my hands, and I tried to get her to talk about kitties and puppies and all the things that she loves," said Aimee Mouritsen, Hallie's mother.
According to Hallies parents the opening in this shredder, made by a company called Royal Consumer Information Products, Inc., was so flexible, it can allow a small child's fingers inside. He showed how a pencil could be quickly drawn into the machine.
Hallie's wounds took months to heal. Her dad still chokes up remembering Hallie's reaction the day the bandages came off. "She went like this with her hand (hiding his left hand)she couldn't even look at it." For her mother it was equally upsetting. "That was a sad day."
Hallie's family is one of about a dozen who have sued Royal, the nation's largest paper shredder manufacturer. Most of the lawsuits, including the Mouritsens, have been settled.
Michael P. Atkinson is the Tulsa-based attorney who represented the family. Atkinson urges, "Children should be kept away from paper shredders, particularly those that have problems with the design."
In a statement released to Inside Edition, the company says, "Royal is always concerned and troubled by any injury sustained by one of its consumers. However...We do not believe that there is any defect in its line of shredders."
Royal has changed the design of their shredders. The opening now has a protective bar and they've added new warnings. But the company has not recalled older models.
Royal says parents of small children should not allow them to use any shredder just as they would not allow them to use other household goods such as toasters and blenders.
But it's not just Royal, and it's not just kids. A number of pets have also been injured by shredders.
For one dog owner, it was a horrifying experience. Sandra Clarke of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina told us when she was at home working on March 1st, her curious puppy, Cross, caught his tongue in a shredder made by a different manufacturer. According to Sandra, it was not a pretty sight. "It looked like hamburger meat. It was shredded up about an inch. There was blood everywhere."
As for little Hallie, her parents worry if she even comprehends the challenges yet to come. "She asks us to this day, when are my fingers going to grow back?"
If you've had any bad experiences with a home paper shredder, let us know and be sure to report the problem to the Consumer Products Safety Commission.
If you already have a paper shredder in the home or plan on purchasing one, here are some helpful tips to keep your family safe:
- Never allow children to operate a shredder, even under adult supervision.
- Place shredder where it is not accessible to children or pets.
- Unplug the shredder when it is not in use.
- Do not place hands or fingers in the shredder opening.
- Do not operate shredder when wearing loose-fitting clothes that could get caught in the machine.
- Keep hair, ties and necklaces away from the machine's opening.
- Do not put food wrappers through the shredder.
For more information about paper shredders, please visit the following websites: