An 11-month-old baby was horrifically injured when a robot lawnmower mutilated his foot as he played on the lawn.
Sensors meant to divert the mower from obstacles failed to spot the infant’s foot and tore it open with its razor-sharp rotating blades, according to local media in Austria.
Surgeons at the Klagenfurt Clinic, in the state of Carinthia, operated for more than two hours to stitch the boy’s lacerated foot back together, local media reported on 8th May.
Dr Johannes Schalamon said: “An 11-month-old boy was admitted to our department at the weekend.
“The child was crawling in the garden when he was hit by the robot lawnmower and suffered a massive injury to his foot.”
Medics at the clinic warned that robot mowers pose a huge risk to young children and pets saying their sensors often fail to detect them.
Some injuries, they said, are so severe that they amputate feet or toes.
They warned that every year, two to three infants need to be treated after accidents with mower robots, adding that the most serious injuries require amputation.
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