Hilton Head Island - Bluffton, SC
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Much to his delight, Santa delivered.
Soon, Drew and his new skate-shoes were inseparable. He coasted around the house, wheeled around stores with his mother and zipped up and down neighborhood streets with his friends.
Then last weekend, Drew hit a crack, fell forward and landed in the doctor's office with a slight stress fracture in his left forearm.
"When I fell, I just thought I should get up and go home," Drew said. "But when I tried to get up, it really hurt.
"
Though the rolling sneakers have been around for about six years, Heelys just now appear to be reaching peak popularity in the Lowcountry among elementary and middle school kids. Since the holidays, it's hard to go anywhere and not find a youngster scooting around on his heels, a toe pointed to the sky.
But almost as quickly as the super-cool shoes became a sensation, they've fallen out of favor with some parents, physicians, schools and shopping centers because of concerns about safety.
Since Christmas, more than a dozen kids have turned up at Palmetto Pediatrics of the Lowcountry with various injuries related to wearing the shoes, said Dr. Lance Lowe, a pediatrician.
At least four children broke their forearms in Heelys-related falls.
"Yes, they're fun, and they're good for exercise," Lowe said. "But they're also very dangerous."
Michael Staffaroni, CEO of Texas-based Heelys, said the company takes safety "very seriously," and warned consumers to read the product's instructions and safety information before lacing up the shoes.
"When you take the time to do that, we see the likelihood of taking a fall drastically reduced," Staffaroni said. "Statistically, we feel our product is very, very safe relative to other sports and other recreational activities."
The concept behind the shoes is simple: they look and feel just like a regular pair of sneakers.
But with a 2-inch removable wheel embedded in each heel, kids can shift their weight from front to back and turn their sneakers into skates.
The Heelys company Web site, marketing material and shoe boxes strongly encourage the use of safety equipment when wheels are in their heels. The company sells its own helmets and protective pads.
But few kids are wearing helmets or pads here, said several school employees, doctors and parents.
Because the shoes, which retail for between $60 and $90, look more like sneakers than athletic equipment, many parents haven't made their children wear safety gear.
"There's this misperception that they're shoes, and thus safer than Rollerblades and skateboards," Lowe said.
"They're not."
He is concerned parents aren't doing enough to encourage their children to use safety gear when on any wheeled equipment. What could result, he said, is as the popularity of Heelys continues to rise, a rash of broken bones and head injuries could follow.
For that reason, the skate-shoes have been banned by most Beaufort County schools, though there's not yet a district-wide policy forbidding them, said Tom Hudson, a district spokesman.
Boys and Girls Clubs in Bluffton and Hilton Head Island have also banned the shoes, as have shopping centers and other retail stores.
"We wouldn't let kids wear roller skates here, so why would we let them wear Heelys?
" asked Susie Dolan, assistant unit director of the Boys and Girls Club of Hilton Head. "It's just too dangerous."
Staffaroni said Heelys are safer than inline skates, but urged consumers to be cautious.
The shoes are "sporting equipment and not a toy," he said. "They should always be worn with proper protective equipment."
But trying to get your child to wear a helmet and elbow pads with their sneakers is like getting them to finish their vegetables.
"When I'm with my friends, it just looks kind of funny if I was wearing my helmet and pads everywhere," Drew said.
After hurting his arm, Drew may not have a choice, said his mother, Jennifer Lee.
"If he's going out Heely-ing," she said, "he's going to wear that helmet.
I don't care how silly it looks.
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