DRAMATIC video shows father accidentally kicking football at toddler's face that sends him flying
A father accidentally kicked a football at his young son's face so forcefully that it sent the child flying onto their brick driveway, "nearly killing" him. The father joked that the incident "turned him off the sport for life". When Nick Ballinger attempted to kick the ball over his two-year-old son Quade Ballinger's head during a game of kickabout against his front gate, the results were nearly disastrous.
A dramatic video depicts the 33-year-old kicking a size-five ball squarely in Quade's face from a distance of about five meters, knocking the youngster off his feet and causing him to land flat on his back. A terrified Nick rushes over, "fearing the worst" as the child lies still with his legs dangling to the ground. He swoops the child up from the brick-paved floor as shocked mother Lauren, 34, tells him off for his dangerously misjudged shot.
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Nick acknowledges that if Quade had hit his head, he might have killed him, but the fortunate child was only stunned for about 30 seconds before returning to normal. He claims that Quade, who is now four years old, prefers rugby to football and makes light of the incident by joking that he may never again play the game. Nick urged parents to supervise their children's kickabouts this summer because "things may go very bad very quickly."
🔔 | Dad Feared He May Have Killed Toddler Son After Smacking Football In His Face https://t.co/kYrJVPotGM
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He explained to Kennedy News and Media, "As soon as I kicked it, I knew it was going to hit him. I thought 'oh s**t' and panicked. When his feet left the floor, I feared the worst. I thought he was going to hit his head. It could have killed him if the worst happened. You try not to think about that. He didn't even see it coming. Luckily at the last minute, he lifted his head up and landed on his back and shoulder blades, so he didn't hit his head. He was lucky. I hugged him straight away and 30 seconds later he was back to normal. I was just relieved. Lauren wasn't very happy about it. She gave me a bit of a hard time after it.”
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"I felt really guilty at the time, but when I knew everything was okay, we laughed about it and I downloaded it off the CCTV and proceeded to send it to everyone I know. Quade prefers rugby now, so maybe this knocked football out of him. He's probably been put off for life. It's a good warning for dads to be careful when they're playing with their sons. Things like this can all go wrong very quickly. Maybe people need to get some American football hats! I've learned my lesson. I'm not the best at football anyway so I stay away from it now,” he added.