Chinese girl falls into mixing machine's moving blades at father's work

Terrified: The little girl's leg is jammed firmly at the bottom after she fell into machinery at her father's work in Longyan, Fujian Province, China

A two-year-old Chinese girl had incredibly lucky escape when she became caught in the blades of an industrial mixing machine.

The terrified youngster had been staring into the animal feed machine's moving parts at her father's work when she fell in and screamed.

Quick-thinking workers managed to turn it off after she disappeared and and then found the girl trapped in an awkward position.

Firefighters were called and spent 40 minutes cutting her free at the factory in Longyan, Fujian Province.

Rescue effort: Firefighters begin their 40-minute operation to save the girl but it proved trickier than at first glance

Sparks: A circular saw is used to remove blades as the child is covered with cloths to protect her

Her father Qiu Qinglin said: 'She was playing by herself around the stirrer machine. I saw her bend over on the edge of the machine, looking down to see the stirring blades working.'

Firefighter Liu Xiaodong said: 'When we were electrically cutting the machine up we had to cover the little girl with cloth as the scene may have terrified her.'

Once free the youngster was rushed to hospital where it was discovered that she had suffered a broken leg. - dailymail.co.uk

Precarious: The girl's lucky escape is illustrated by how close she is to the mixing machine's blades

Safe at last: Qiu Qinglin carries his two-year-old daughter to an ambulance after she is freed from the industrial mixer

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Ban: Stop smoking in cars to save children's health say doctors

Smoking should be banned in all cars to save children from the health dangers caused by passive inhalation, says a report from the Royal College of Physicians.

Doctors are calling for urgent action after figures revealed passive smoking triggers 22,000 cases of asthma and wheezing in children every year.

Around 9,500 hospital admissions among children are linked to the effects of secondhand smoke inside and outside the family home, says the report, which analysed existing research.

Forty babies die from sudden infant death syndrome every year caused by passive smoking - one in five of all such deaths.

At least two million children are exposed to secondhand smoke in the home along with 'avoidable' health risks, says the report.

Professor John Britton, chairman of the Royal College's tobacco advisory group, said legislation to ban smoking in the home would be unenforceable.

But society's views about the ' acceptability' of smoking must be changed and the easiest way to do this is a blanket ban in cars and vans, he said.

This would be simpler to police than the current situation which expects enforcement officers to differentiate between business vehicles, where smoking is banned, and those owned privately.

Professor Britton said: 'We would recommend a ban on smoking in all vehicles.'
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In addition the ban on smoking in enclosed spaces should be extended to parks, playgrounds and other areas where children congregate, he went on.

Richard Ashcroft, a professor of bioethics at Queen Mary, University of London - who contributed to the report - said even parked drivers who never have child passengers should get out of their cars before lighting up.

This would not be a 'significant reduction' in their liberties, he argued.

However, Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said: 'We wouldn't encourage people to smoke around children but adults should be allowed to use their common sense.

'These proposals go way beyond what is acceptable in a free society.'

Professor Terence Stephenson, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said it had already demanded a ban on smoking in cars with children travelling in them.

A Department of Health spokesman said: 'By increasing the level of awareness of the harmfulness of secondhand smoke, we will encourage people to voluntarily make their homes and cars smoke free.'- www.dailymail.co.uk

Reinventing the wheel: New technology could banish stabilisers - and help children cycle in just one hour

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 8:36 AM on 19th October 2009

The sight of an anxious parent running close behind a child on a wobbling bicycle as they learn to ride it may soon be a thing of the past.

A company claims to have developed a front wheel that senses when the bike is starting to keel over and re-centres it beneath the rider's weight.

The wheel could replace traditional stabilisers for youngsters learning to travel on two wheels.

Look, no stabilisers! The Gyrowheel system has three stability settings which stop the the bike from wobbling or tipping over

The Gyrowheel system is the product of several years of research by U.S, firm Gyrobike and could be in shops here by next year.

Gyrobike chief executive Daniella Reichstetter said: 'Gyrowheel is the only product of its kind. It will change how people learn to ride bikes.'

The Gyrowheel system has three stability settings - high, medium and low. As a rider's skills and confidence improve, the stability setting can be adjusted.

The wheel is the same size as an ordinary one but, instead of spokes, has a circular housing which contains an independently spinning disc powered by a rechargeable battery.

When switched on, this inner disc speeds up and spins independently of the outside wheel.

As the disc spins at high speed it creates a strong force that keeps the wheel upright. So, for example, if the bike begins to topple, the gyroscope compensates by leaning the wheel in the opposite direction. It works in a similar way to a child's spinning top, which is also a type of gyroscope.

When turned off the Gyrowheel, which will cost around £60, behaves like a standard bike wheel.

California-based Gyrobike's marketing boss Ashleigh Harris said: 'Our prototypes knocked the socks off parents whose kids tested Gyrowheel, and the real thing is ten times better.'

She added that the vast majority of children who tested Gyrowheel learned to ride in less than an hour. - www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech

Never say you are unlucky‏