Woman Claims Shower Screen Shattered, Injuring Her Young Daughters

Shower Screen Shattered On 2 Young Girls

What should have been a normal Sunday bath for a young girl turned into a nightmare when the shower screen shattered, leaving her bleeding.

Her mother took to Facebook to describe the horrific incident, which allegedly took place  at a condominium last Sunday (28 Oct).

In short, Ms Tan heard a loud sound followed by screams coming from the bathroom. She  ran there and found her two daughters “dripping in blood”. She wrote,

I could see a big hole on (my daughter’s) shoulder. Having attended first aid courses, I knew it was bad.

These first aid courses seemed to have come in handy — the mother administered first aid while her husband called the ambulance.

Shattered glass at Ms Tan’s apartment
Source

Paramedics were reportedly “shocked” by the sight of so much blood and quickly brought Ms Tan’s daughter to KK Hospital.

There, an emergency team sprung into action and gave her a tranquiliser to manage the pain. But Ms Tan’s ordeal didn’t end after Ariel, her older daughter, had been treated.

A young hero

It appears that Ariel was showering with her younger sister Lala when the incident occurred. She acted quickly to protect her younger sister from the falling glass by hugging her.

Ariel’s heroic act meant that Lala only suffered minor cuts on her feet.

But it also meant that Ariel needed quite a few stitches, as well as antibiotics. And to make matters worse, Ariel is apparently allergic to the prescribed antibiotics and has developed rashes shortly after.

But Ms Tan assures concerned netizens that Ariel is recovering at home. Meanwhile, Lala is back in school, having escaped the incident unscathed.

Raising awareness

Ms Tan explains that the point of her post was to raise awareness of the danger of shower screens.

She recommends that fellow residents avoid installing any form of glass in the shower, calling it a “painful to price to pay” should something go wrong.

And to those who already have a glass shower screen, Ms Tan suggests installing a film to prevent it from shattering.

She also called on property developers to install these films when they are building the flat. She raised this suggestion with both his property developer as well as the Building & Construction Authority (BCA). Here’s the response she claims to have received:

• Property management: “Warranty is over. Carton box you can take from recycling bin.”
• Property developer: “Project TOP and warranty is over. You can check with your home insurance.”
• BCA: “We look at structures of the building. When you signed the sales and purchase agreement, you should have known that they are using tempered glass. So you accepted the interior design and the choice of materials.”

According to Ms Tan, she received more compassion and understanding from the workers of the glass vendor.

(They) came down and helped us clear the mess. They made me feel they cared more. Respect!

Not the first time

This isn’t the first time that a shower screen has shattered in Singapore:

• January 2015: Mr Sebastian Wong died after he fell on to the glass door of a shower cubicle. Sharp fragments of glass pierced the 24-year-old’s neck.
• October 2015: Analyst Kevin Fong found his glass shower cubicle shattered in his Clementi flat. Fortunately, no one was injured.

What is tempered glass?

Tempered glass is also known as safety glass. When broken, it shatters into tiny pieces instead of big pieces with sharp edges. But according to The New Paper, tempered glass can shatter suddenly on its own form stress if not installed properly. Impurities like nickel sulphide can also shatter it.

HDB stopped providing shower screens in 2003, in a move it claims gives flat owners the “flexibility” to install the screens they like.

Featured image from Facebook.