A coroner is reminding parents about the importance of supervising small children on playgrounds following the death of a girl on her first birthday.
Savanah Halcrow from North Canterbury was on a climbing fort at the Glenmark Playcentre in Waipara in January 2018, when she fell from a hanging swing bridge.
She was taken to her GP where she was unresponsive and diagnosed with a head injury. From there Savanah was taken to Christchurch Hospital by ambulance before being transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland.
A Ministry of Education assessment eight days later found the bark depth and hanging swing bridge at the Glenmark Playcentre were not safe.
Coroner Sue Johnson made no recommendations, saying "the facts speak for themselves". She says her cause of death was from a blunt force head injury and was accidental.
"It is not known how Savanah fell. Her fall was unwitnessed," a report released on Monday says.
"Savanah's death was a heart-rending and [absolutely] tragic event for her family."
Johnson says Savanah's mum was only away momentarily while she stored a lawnmower.
"Sadly, it takes far less than a moment for a child to fall from playground equipment.
"Relying on a surface to protect a not-quite-one year old from the consequences of a fall of at least 90cm is not a substitute for parental supervision."
