A parenting influencer said on Instagram that she accidentally ran over her nearly 2-year-old son, who suffered a fractured pelvis.
Kelly Hopton-Jones, who runs social media accounts and a blog called “Hillside Farmhouse,” said Wednesday that her son Henry was in her family’s garage as her husband helped their daughter into a car seat.
Henry then left the garage without either parent noticing.
“In a matter of seconds, our son was run over by our car. I was driving,” Ms. Hopton-Jones wrote.
Ms. Hopton-Jones said that neighbors took her daughter to a scheduled dance event as she and her husband rushed the 22-month-old child to the hospital.
Henry, the influencer said, suffered fractures to his pelvis and some abrasions. There were no detected injuries to the toddler’s brain, spine, organs or limbs.
Ms. Hopton-Jones told her more than 63,000 Instagram followers that the incident was a “true nightmare” and that her family was “on the lucky side of a very tragic accident.”
She also offered advice, saying that it was “non negotiable to hold or hold hands with young children around vehicles. Do not assume they know or will stay where you last saw them.”
Commenters were split on their reaction to the incident, with some saying Ms. Hopton-Jones was too quick to post about the accident.
“Posting this in real time is absolutely disgusting as a mother. Making a tragedy into content is pathetic on your part,” “taylorr.shell” wrote on the post.
Another commenter, “collettehenderson42,” wrote, “good thing you had time to make this into content! I’d hate for a perfectly good photo of a hurt child to go to waste.”
Commenter “becky77johnson” came to the defense of Ms. Hopton-Jones, writing, “People — when you are in the hospital with your little one, your brain is going a mile a minute … The need to vent/share/re-play/grieve with others — in addition to your spouse — is strong.
“For bloggers, their followers can feel like a special community. While it wouldn’t even occur to the rest of us to post during a time like this, it is absolutely understandable for her to do so,” she said.
