Total Recall IKEA Drawers

*Graphic Imagery

On Monday, Evie-Mai McKenzie was found trapped under IKEA drawers. At 6:30, her mother entered the house and went to one of the bedrooms, she found her 3 year-old daughter trapped and covered in blood.

She was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Centre, where she received 20 stitches from a deep cut on the temple on her head. The cuts have caused life ling scaring to the child’s head.

The child’s mother requested that the store stops selling the furniture and recall them as well. This is not the first incident like this either, there have been three other toddlers who have lost their lives. The drawers did come with instructions that said to secure the drawers to the wall, but Kellie was unaware of the risks that could be caused if it was not secured.

This has forced IKEA to do a full recall on the Malm Drawers in the US. IKEA will be recalling tens of millions drawers after the incident. The store will be offering a full refund or store credit. This also applies to UK buyers.

Mother Kellie says:

“As soon as I heard the bang, I instantly knew exactly what must have happened.”

“When I came in, the drawers were on top of her and I just saw the blood on the side of her face.”

“She was in hysterics and crying her eyes out – I just thought she was going to die.”

“I have said it quite a few times this week that someone has been watching out for Evie up there because she has been unbelievably lucky to still be here.”

“It’s quite scary because she really doesn’t seem to care and it hasn’t fazed her at all, although she’s not so keen on going back into the bedroom.”

“It has upset me that they were not fixed to the wall and I have been blaming myself so it is really important now that I can spread the word that they need to be fixed to the wall.”

IKEA offered a full refund to, Mother, Kellie and gave a gift to Evie. The store chain has also opened an investigation about the incident.

Donna Moore, country customer relations manager for IKEA UK & Ireland, made the following statement:

“At IKEA, we believe children are the most important people in the world and the safety of our products is our highest priority. We are saddened that an incident occurred whereby a young child sustained an injury and we have been in direct contact with the customer to investigate the incident.

“IKEA chests of drawers are safe when anchored to the wall, as per the assembly instructions using the tip over restraint provided with the product.

“We are committed to raising awareness of the tip over risks of all furniture and how to prevent accidents from happening through our ‘Secure it!’ campaign.

“IKEA urges all customers to check their chests of drawers are securely anchored to the wall. Any customer is welcome to contact us on 0203 6450010 to request a free replacement restraint kit.

“Alternatively, should any customer be unhappy with their product they can return it to their local IKEA store in line with our returns policy.”

In relation to the US recall the spokesman added:“Today, IKEA US and IKEA Canada will launch a local recall of chests of drawers in North America only. The recall is based on the local voluntary ASTM standard, which is applicable in North America. IKEA chests of drawers meet all mandatory stability requirements on all markets where sold.

“We cannot comment further on any details about the action in North America until IKEA US and IKEA Canada, in corporation with their local consumer authorities, will launch the press release, which is planned at 2 pm UTC.

“IKEA chests of drawers are safe when anchored to the wall per the assembly instruction, using the tip over restraint provided with the product. Accidents related to furniture tipping over is a serious home safety issue for the entire home furnishing industry and IKEA is committed to take the lead in addressing this challenge. The global IKEA Secure It! campaign is developed to create awareness of the risk of furniture tip-overs and how to prevent it from happening”.