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Health authorities have issued a warning ahead of the upcoming school holidays following a sharp increase in quad bike-related injuries among children in South Australia.
Mother-of-three Dana Kirkland has shared her harrowing experience with a quad bike to spread the message to other parents.
Kirkland suffered nine broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and lung injuries after she was thrown from a quad bike on her farm.
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"I got on the bike and did nothing different than I have done before and it was unpredictable. It catapulted me off," Kirkland said.
She said "complacency" around the vehicles was a problem.
"You think you are safe because you have four wheels, but the unpredictability behind those bikes is next level."
Over the past four months, eight young children have been hospitalised in South Australia due to quad bike accidents.
The number of injuries is a stark contrast to last year, when there were none recorded.
Paedatric trauma nurse Jackie Winters said the children injured this year suffered devastating injuries.
"We have seen quite serious injuries in these children, from brain injuries to abdominal injuries, which lead to internal bleeding, spinal injuries and fractures."
Holly Fitzgerald from KidSafe SA said children should not be using quad bikes at all.
"Under no circumstances should children be on those quad bikes," she said.
"It's just too risky and it could ultimately result in a catastrophic outcome."
In just the past few weeks, three men have died in separate quad bike incidents in SA.
This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.
