Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Reminds Parents to "Buckle-Up" Their Children

February 11 - 17 Is Child Passenger Safety Week

February 8, 2001

CHICAGO, February 9, 2001 - Three years ago six-year-old Penny Rosas was riding in the front seat of the car her mother was driving when it was involved in a collision just a couple of blocks from their home. Penny was badly hurt and sustained a traumatic brain injury. She is unable to walk and is fed through a feeding tube. "Every time I see a person with a child in the front seat I explain what happened to my child," says Mrs. Esmeralda Rosas, Penny's mother. "A lot of people ignore me, but some listen. All children should ride in the back with a seat belt or in a safety seat. If my child was in the back and secure, her disability would not have happened."

Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Injury Prevention Program is reminding parents that the single most important thing they can do to protect their children while in the car is to buckle them up properly, every time. This reminder is being issued for Child Passenger Safety Week, February 11 - 17.

Penny, a former inpatient and current outpatient at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, is now nine years old. Penny loves to dress up in pretty dresses and enjoys playing with dogs. When she was an inpatient, she enjoyed Pet Therapy.

"Unfortunately, we see too many children like Penny who are injured in car collisions," says Ricardo G. Senno, MD, Medical Director of the Brain Injury Medicine and Rehabilitation program at Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. "Brain injuries like Penny's can be prevented, simply by properly restraining children in appropriate car seats or seat belts, depending on their age and size," Dr. Senno adds. "If you have the option of placing the child in the middle of the back seat, that's the safest place. Remember that prevention is the only cure that we have right now for injuries like Penny's which can be very severe and affect a child's entire future as well as their family dynamics."

According to national statistics, riding unrestrained is the single greatest risk factor for death and injury among child motor vehicle occupants.

The mission of Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Injury Prevention Program is to prevent traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. The Injury Prevention Program educates the public about high-risk activities associated with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries, such as not restraining children in car seats or seat belts in the back seat of vehicles.

Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is dedicated to helping people with all levels and types of physical disabilities regain or improve their physical functions, as well as empowering them to participate more fully in family, social, vocational and leisure time pursuits. Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago has been rated "The #1 Rehabilitation Hospital" by U.S. News & World Report every year since 1991.

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