5-year-old boy barely dodges runaway bounce house swept away in wind in NC, video shows
A boy evaded possible injury after a bounce house came loose in the family’s North Carolina backyard and hurtled toward him in a gust of wind.
Jennifer Beane shared a video of the terrifying experience on Facebook to raise awareness about the dangers of bounce houses and strong winds.
The family, who lives in Hickory, was having a birthday party for their 2-year-old daughter on March 19 and got the bounce house for the children, Beane said on Facebook.
Their 5-year-old son was walking toward the house when the bounce house came loose in the gusty winds, according to Beane’s Facebook post.
“You see him in the video as he heard the strap to the bounce house break so he was looking to see what it was,” Beane wrote online. “Then the scariest thing happens and the wind picks it up and comes straight for him.”
Suddenly, the 5-year-old is fleeing the path of the bouncy house, which careens into the back of the house and flies up into the air and out of the camera’s frame. Seconds later, the bounce house crashes back onto the grass in the backyard.
Wind gusts reached 40 mph on the day of the celebration in Hickory.
Beane said their son felt the bouncy house graze the back of his head as he narrowly escaped it. She encouraged families to check weather conditions before they get a bounce house for special occasions.
“It could have been much, much worse,” Beane wrote on Facebook. “We are all still shaken up about it and Michael says we can’t have anymore bounce houses in the future!”
This story was originally published March 22, 2022 at 5:00 PM with the headline "5-year-old boy barely dodges runaway bounce house swept away in wind in NC, video shows."
