Apple Valley Couple Speaks Out About Child's Deadly Dresser

The Apple Valley parents of a young boy who died after an IKEA dresser fell over are speaking out to spread awareness about the piece of furniture. The family was not aware of the danger Malm dressers posed, including two previous deaths involving the dresser.

In February, 2-year-old Ted McGee died when an IKEA Malm dresser tipped over. McGee died months before IKEA issued a recall on Malm dressers.

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In June, IKEA announced it would recall all "chests and dressers are unstable if they are not properly anchored to the wall, posing a tip-over and entrapment hazard that can result in death or injuries to children."

"The recall affects children’s chests and dressers taller than 23.5 inches and adult chests and dressers taller than 29.5 inches that do not meet the performance requirements of the U.S. voluntary industry standard," the statement read.

"When I went in to check on him the last time, I opened the door quietly and at that angle I saw his bed was empty and at that angle, I thought I'd open it further and see him playing on the other side of the door and hiding and peer up and giggle," she said.

"I immediately ran over and hoisted it up and started digging through the drawers that had all fallen out and screamed someone call 9-1-1," said McGee.

"And at the bottom of the drawers was our Ted laying pretty quiet and still."

"Parents need to get these dressers out of their homes because we couldn't sleep at night if this happened to another family," said Jeremy McGee, the father of the boy.

Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has since introduced a bill to protect children from unsafe dressers called Stop Tip-over of Unstable, Risky Dressers on Youth (STURDY) Act.

To participate in the IKEA recall or for additional information, email secureit@ikea.com or call (866) 856-4532.

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