Warning for Target shoppers – toddler’s fingers “cut out” of cart

A Virginia mother is warning other parents of a “new fear” she “unlocked” while shopping with her toddler, who had to have her “fingers cut out of a cart” she was riding.

In August 2024, Emily McMaugh was shopping at Target with her two toddlers when the unexpected happened.

The Virginia mom explains that Kaelynn, her 3-year-old, was sitting in the cart while her younger sibling occupied the seat: “Normally, I have two carts, and my husband will push one and I’ll push the other. This time I let her sit in the cart,” McMaugh tells People, adding that things were going smoothly until it was time to leave.

After the mom pushed the cart to her car – the two kids still seated inside – she started unloading her haul from the discount store and discovered that her older daughter was “stuck.”

“I went to get them out and I realized that because of the shape of the openings, she stuck her two fingers in the little hole,” McMaugh said, explaining that the little one’s fingers had swollen inside the holes making them impossible to remove.

The frightening moment, she shared, felt like an eternity as she juggled her nervousness and the challenge of managing her younger child while figuring out what to do next.

“We had to go back in and get guest services, who were really helpful,” the medical assistant tells People. “We tried Vaseline, but that didn’t work. The Target employees…were really good with her, too. They gave her a cake pop to help calm her down.”

Unable to safely free the girl from the cart, the fire department was then called.

‘Cut the cart’

Unlike the child, who “was really calm at first,” mom was “very stressed,”

“My husband ended up meeting us at Target because I was like, ‘I can’t handle this by myself.’ It was definitely a stressful situation,” she recalls of the shopping experience.

While Kaelynn was holding it together for the most part of the 25 minute ordeal, “she started freaking out is when the paramedics had to actually like cut the cart,” McMaugh said. They “literally cut her fingers out of the cart.”

“At the point she started screaming and the fire department showed up, everyone was looking. They were trying to figure out what happened. A couple of people stayed until she was out to make sure she was okay. It was very sweet.”

‘New fear unlocked’

Hoping to raise awareness among other parents and warn them about this unexpected hazard, the mom took to social media to share her experience.

“New fear unlocked…be careful with your littles & shopping carts,” she captions the post that shows two of Kaelynn’s tiny fingers lodged into one of the grids in the red cart, followed by an image of the rescue.

“I’m a young mom with young kids, and I’ve never heard of this happening. I didn’t even think it was possible. So, I did share it on TikTok just to spread awareness so if somebody else is juggling two kids, they know to bring the stroller,” she says.

As for Kaelynn’s traumatizing shopping cart experience, the grateful mom explains that she “she didn’t get hurt” and a visit to the hospital was not needed.

“She doesn’t speak in full sentences yet, so I’m sure it hurt but she couldn’t really tell me what she was feeling,” McMaugh says, adding that Target employees “were prepared to help no matter what the case.”

“I’m glad I shared it because maybe more people can be aware…Apparently, it does happen more than you’d think. It’s a new fear unlocked.”

Have you ever heard of something like this happening at your local stores? Please share this story with your friends and help spread awareness of the risks involved with little ones in carts.

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