Mom shares furniture tip-over warning after 'huge wake-up call'

By Yi-Jin Yu

A Utah mom is sharing a warning for fellow parents after a dresser that tipped over in her home could have resulted in a tragic outcome.

JaNae Fay shared an Instagram reel of the aftermath of the tip-over, which involved a secondhand dresser she had purchased.

Courtesy JaNae Fay

JaNae Fay shared an Instagram reel showing a dresser in her home that tipped over.

Fay told "Good Morning America" the incident occurred on "just another regular day" at her family home. She said she was downstairs with some of her kids, and her 3-year-old was upstairs when the tip-over happened.

"All of a sudden, we heard a huge crash, followed by my 3-year-old, just hysterical," the 34-year-old recalled to "Good Morning America." "So, we run up the stairs to see what she was crying about. She didn't actually get pinned underneath ... she was standing in the hallway and I saw that big mess [in the room]."

Courtesy JaNae Fay

Fay told "GMA" she bought the dresser secondhand online and found out it had been recalled.

Courtesy JaNae Fay

JaNae Fay said it was a "huge wake-up call" for her and her husband when a dresser that was filled with their kids' toys got knocked over.

Fay said she felt she should've known better to avoid the sudden tip-over in the first place as a former EMT who learned about "crush injuries" and considering her current side job as the owner of Prepared Like a Mother, a small business that offers online classes and workbooks on emergency preparedness.

"It was a huge wake-up call for me and my husband and all of our family," Fay said.

"I teach this and I still didn't do it because it was an empty dresser [at first]," she continued. "It was something that we just needed to move downstairs into our storage room or sell it. But … being parents got in the way."

After the harrowing tip-over, Fay said her husband found anchors online and installed them on their dresser and other pieces throughout their home that might be at risk of toppling unexpectedly.

Courtesy JaNae Fay

Fay is encouraging other families to remember to use furniture anchors to avoid any future accidents or tragedies.

Courtesy JaNae Fay

JaNae Fay said after the tip-over incident, her husband found anchors online to install on their home furniture that was at risk of falling over.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission notes that a variety of household items like TVs and furniture such as bookcases, chests, desks, dressers, ranges, shelves and TV stands, may need to be anchored for safety purposes. The federal agency recommends securing furniture to solid floors and/or walls; for freestanding ranges and stoves, anti-tip brackets can be used to avoid crush injuries or scalding. The CPSC offers additional tips on how to install anchors on its Anchor It website.

In the wake of her family's scare, Fay said she is encouraging other parents not to put off installing anchors on any furniture or household items that need to be secured, especially if they live in an area prone to earthquakes.

"Just get it done," she said. "It's simple. It's easy. It's not something that's incredibly hard or time consuming, but it could save your child's life."