A six-year-old boy spent his “last day of school in hospital” after a Coles anti-theft security door left him with a nasty cut.
Laura Jeacock was at her local Coles with her four children in Lara, near Geelong, southwest of Melbourne, on Wednesday when she heard panic at the self-checkout doors.
The mother ran and found her son Kenzie bleeding after being cut by the corner of the glass doors.
Kenzie had been running towards the security doors when they closed without warning, cracking her eye open.
A nearby customer rushed to the boy’s aid and helped keep pressure on the wound while Coles staff reportedly watched the chaos unfold.
His mother has spoken out to warn other parents of the danger.
‘(For this to happen) a week before Christmas is not ideal. Spending your last day of school in the hospital isn’t fun either… the doctors had to check there was no glass in the cut before they glued it on,” Mrs Jeacock said. Yahoo News.
“It was quite shocking, the staff member who was supposedly medically trained had to Google it (what to do).”
Kenzie Jeacock was injured (pictured) by a Coles smart security gate in Lara on Wednesday
Coles installed anti-theft security doors across Australia last year in response to a rise in shoplifting.
The security doors are designed to open “automatically” for customers after they have paid for their items.
Jeacock claimed a Coles employee told him there was no sensor on the doors, meaning “there’s nothing stopping them from closing”.
The supermarket chain has since disputed the mother’s claim.
A spokesperson said the doors are “designed and tested to meet Australian and global standards and have built-in sensors to detect any nearby objects.”
“With this incident, we have investigated thoroughly and can confirm that the doors worked properly, however, due to the speed of the child, the doors were not able to open in time,” they said.
A store manager called Ms Jeacock on Thursday to check on Kenzie and assure the mother that “someone had come to look at the doors” after checking security cameras.
Woolworths and Coles began implementing the new security measure late last year in response to a rise in shoplifting.
The doors were attacked earlier this year after a customer in a wheelchair was “crushed” by them.
A Coles spokesperson said the doors are “designed and tested to meet global and Australian standards and have built-in sensors to detect any nearby objects”.
‘Halfway there, the door slammed shut. I hit my arms and stopped my wheelchair,” they wrote on Reddit.
‘With a beep, it opened after a second and I pushed it. Yes, it hurt. Yes, it scared me a lot. No, I’m not hurt. No, I don’t think it damaged my wheelchair. No, I didn’t shoplift.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Coles for further comment.