Fan in Bear Costume Cuts 4-Year-Old Girl in Yekaterinburg

In Yekaterinburg, a four-year-old girl had her hand cut at a children«s party. The little girl came to a friend»s birthday with her parents at the children«s studio »Detki Neposedki«. At the end of the party, an animator in a white bear costume came out to dance with the children. The birthday girl and guests were having fun and petting the large costume, but one girl»s hand got into an unprotected fan built into the costume.

The moment of the injury was caught on video. The girl screamed loudly and ran to her dad. The incident occurred on 30 November.

“This fan should have been covered with a lid, which was missing. Everything happened in a second. Severe bleeding began, help was provided by other children«s parents, and the studio staff didn»t even approach. Then the child was taken to the trauma center, several stitches were applied, and she was sent on a long sick leave,” the victim«s mother Elena told E1.RU.

The girl«s mother added that the studio head only got in touch after receiving a pre-trial claim for compensation for damages.

“In the conversation, he explained that business is allegedly going badly, there«s no money. Although earlier in an interview he said that he holds 400 events per month. For the safety and health of children, neither the staff nor the director himself take responsibility, children are expendable material,” added the mother.

The head of the children«s studio, Pavel Shiryaev, commented on the situation.

“According to the testimony of the animator who was inside the animation costume, the fan was initially covered with a protective grill and checked before the performance. However, shortly before the incident, he discovered that access to the fan had become open — which, he said, happened due to interference from other children. Due to the extremely limited visibility from inside the costume, he could not see what was happening behind, but, noticing an abnormal situation, he was about to leave the animation area.

At that moment, a girl without adult accompaniment ran up to the costume, who was injured. Video recording of the incident confirms that the child«s legal representative was at a distance and not supervising at the time of the incident,” believes the director of »Detki Neposedki«.

Shiryaev confirmed that the studio staff did not provide assistance to the girl — after all, they are not medical workers.

“We did not hinder the provision of assistance and express gratitude to all who showed care,” added Shiryaev.

The director of the children«s center stated that the contract for the provision of services was concluded with the birthday girl»s parents. For the safety of guests in the studio, in their opinion, they are not responsible.

“The parents sent a pre-trial claim demanding compensation for moral harm and lost income totaling 100,000 rubles (approximately $1,000 at current rates). Despite the fact that the legal obligation to ensure safety does not extend to guests, the studio offered the family voluntary support as a gesture of goodwill, based on humane considerations. We sincerely offered to organize a New Year«s greeting from Ded Moroz (Father Frost) and Snegurochka (Snow Maiden) for the girl for free — as a gesture of support ahead of the holidays,” stated the entrepreneur.

Earlier we reported how a 4-year-old boy broke his arm in a restaurant playroom. Check if you can correctly provide first aid in the test.