Kids nearly hit by ceiling fan blade that came apart and "went hurtling" towards wall

A ceiling fan blade suddenly cracked and was sent hurtling downwards, landing on Stomper’s Joey dining table and barely missing her three-year-old daughter who was seated on a chair just beside it. 

Joey took to Facebook to share about the terrifying experience which happened in her flat at Block 69 Circuit Road at about 7pm on Tuesday (July 24). 

Joey told Stomp in a phone interview that she had just come out of the shower and was in the kitchen when she heard a loud cracking sound, followed by a bang.

At the time, her husband, two daughters — a three-year-old toddler and a two-month-old baby, and domestic helper were in the living room of the 3-room flat. 

The baby and the helper were seated directly below the fan. The toddler sat in a chair beside the dining table a few metres away, as Joey’s husband was setting the table to prepare for dinner.

Joey rushed out of the kitchen and saw that a fan blade on the dining table. Her husband told her that the dislodged blade had bounced off the wall and fallen onto the dining table, barely missing their daughter. 

A portion of the wall was also chipped off. 

Joey’s husband quickly ran to turn off the fan, even as it continued to shake violently. 

Said Joey:

“It was very scary. I immediately ran over to my daughter and hugged her. "Our living room is so small and the door was locked, so they had nowhere to run to.

“I believe if we didn't turn off the fan, the other blades would also have come crashing down. Who knows what will happen then?”

Joey subsequently called the manufacturer of the fan and the shop which she had purchased the fans from. She was then given the contact number of the distributor. 

When Joey called the number and spoke to the customer service officer on the line, she was told that the fan blades, which are made from acrylic, could have cracked while she was cleaning them.

Joey, however, disagrees:

“The fan was just slightly above five years old. I first had it installed in my living room in December 2012 when I got this flat.

“I only clean it once every six months or so, and the last time we cleaned the fan was in June this year. How can the blades crack in this manner just from cleaning?

“There are two other ceiling fans in my bedrooms. I am afraid to use them now even though they aren’t made from acrylic and are of a different model.”

The customer service officer also told Joey that they could change the acrylic fan blades to those made from wood for an additional fee of $150.

However, Joey said that the turned down the offer as she was “no longer confident in their products”.   

The call ended with Joey rejecting the offer, but Joey said that she received a call later from officer later that day, who offered to remove the fan for free. 

Said Joey:

“I asked the seller whether I should change the blades to the wooden ones, but they told me that even then, the wood can still crack.

“I think I may switch to electrical fans or those bladeless fans after this. This has just been terrifying.”