Young girl accidentally strangulated

Deepa Bharath

COSTA MESA -- A 6-year-old girl died Sunday night when she

accidentally strangled herself with pull cords dangling from window

blinds, police said Monday.

The accident occurred at about 7 p.m. when Tyanna Parker was playing

alone in her room as her parents ate dinner inside their Drake Avenue

home, said Costa Mesa Police Lt. John FitzPatrick.

Tyanna, who suffered from a developmental disability, was left

unattended for less than 15 minutes, he said.

“When they came back to her room, they saw her strangulated,”

FitzPatrick said.

Investigators have ruled the incident as an accident.

Police said Tyanna’s parents tried to revive her with CPR and took her

to Hoag Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

On Monday, the grieving parents made funeral arrangements. Tyanna’s

father, Dane Parker, said his daughter was a “beautiful little girl who

loved others with amazing purity.”

“She was loved and cherished,” he said. “She will be sorely missed by

all those who knew her.”

Accidental deaths by strangulation with the cords of window blinds are

common. About one child dies this way every month, according to the U.S.

Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington, D.C.

Since 1991, 130 strangulation cases involving drapery pull cords have

been reported to the commission.

“It’s unfortunate,” FitzPatrick said. “Hopefully, this incident will

create an awareness in the community and prevent other such tragedies.”

FYI

If the windows in your home, child-care facility or school have

blinds, prevent entanglement and possible strangulation by cutting the

loop on double-corded horizontal blinds and attaching separate tassels.

For vertical blinds that function with continuous loop systems, do not

cut the loops. Instead, install a permanent tie-down device.

To obtain free tassels and tie-down devices, call 1-800-506-4636.