A 2-year-old boy died while playing in a bounce house that was swept up by a powerful wind gust in southwestern Arizona, authorities said.
Multiple children were inside of the bounce house Saturday afternoon when strong winds blew the inflatable structure airborne and over to a neighboring lot, a spokesperson for the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. That statement called the episode in Casa Grande, a city about an hour’s drive from Phoenix, a “tragic accident” and extended “heartfelt thoughts and prayers to the grieving family.”
The boy suffered injuries in the bounce house and later died at a hospital, according to the sheriff’s office. Another child was also taken to a hospital with injuries, although hers were not considered life threatening. CBS affiliate KPHO-TV reported that the girl had broken her arm.
A GoFundMe campaign established in the wake of the boy’s death identified him as Bodhi, whose parents, referenced by their first names Karl and Christy, are expecting a second baby at the end of May. The campaign organizer, Ashley Al-Khouri, said the boy’s father is a firefighter and colleague of her own husband at Phoenix Fire Station 40 and called the couple “dear friends” in a description for the fundraiser.
“As a community, we want to offer our support and alleviate the financial burden that accompanies such tragedies. Your donations will help Karl and Cristy focus on grieving their beloved Bodhi while also preparing for the new chapter in their lives,” wrote Al-Khouri. Donations had already surpassed the fundraiser’s $100,000 goal by Tuesday morning.
Phoenix Firehouse 25 shared a link to the fundraiser on Instagram and said the couple has been “an integral part of Firehouse 25 family for many years,” and noted the upcoming arrival of their newborn due next month, “to add to the unimaginable hell that they have been through the last 2 days.”
Bounce houses have been a staple of kids’ entertainment for decades and can be a centerpiece of outdoor gatherings like birthday parties. Whether they are safe or not has been debated more and more over the years, with everyone from pediatric medical experts, personal injury lawyers and the Consumer Product Safety Commission warning of a broad range of potential threats that certain inflatables may pose to children.
One report gained particular attention after it was published in 2022 in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Researchers determined that inflatable bounce houses “are safety hazards when they are dragged, blown over, or lofted by winds,” after looking at 132 incidents involving bounce houses and wind that happened between 2000 and 2021. Those incidents resulted in at least 479 injuries and at least 28 deaths, according to the report.