Parents hope that Soccer Net Bill will prevent the deaths of more children

When David Mills received a call in May 2017 that his 15-year-old son had been seriously injured on a football pitch, he struggled to understand what could go so seriously wrong, unaware at the time of the dangers of unanchored nets.

“As I got closer to the hospital I started praying out loud, it was pretty simple and primary: ‘Please God, please God, please, please, please, please, please God, please God, please, please, please,’ , he told an Ontario legislative committee on Thursday.

“I hoped that whatever happened would not cause him brain damage. We could adapt if he was paralyzed. Life would be dramatically different, but as long as he is not in a coma or suffers a serious brain injury, we will get through this. Not once did I think of anything else.”

Garrett Mills, of Napanee, Ontario, was killed when a 200-pound movable soccer net fell on him and fractured his skull. He was playing in a park with his girlfriend and his best friend doing chin-ups on the bar of the net.

Ric Bresee, who represents Hastings-Lennox and Addington for the progressive conservatives in eastern Ontario, introduced the Garrett’s Legacy Act earlier this year, which sets requirements for the safe use of portable football goals used by members of the public.

The legislation passed through committee hearings on Thursday, the step before being taken back to the legislature for a third and final reading. It has the support of all parties, which should ensure its adoption later this year.

“We sat with Garrett’s body for quite some time before we each said goodbye in our own way,” David Mills told the committee. “I gave him one last kiss on the cheek, and then we went home and sat in the living room in silence, trying to understand what had happened.”

Mills said he has since suffered other losses, both his parentsseveral dear friends, pale in comparison to the loss of a child.

“It’s not something I would want anyone to have to go through, which is why I’m here today,” he said.

“Of course those who oversaw those nets had all the best intentions to anchor those nets, but good intentions were not enough and frankly, are never enough. I’m a firm believer that Garrett would probably still be here if those responsible for those nets had some real law to abide by.

Portable soccer goals are responsible for more than 40 deaths in North America, mostly children, Bresee said. Several other jurisdictions have enacted similar laws, he said.

“I want to provide that same peace of mind and security to the people of Ontario so that their children are not injured during the recreational activities of playing soccer or just playing around a portable soccer goal,” he said.

Jaime, the 15-year-old daughter of Jacqueline Palm, was crushed and murdered in 2014 in Bradford, Ontario. through a movable soccer net that was not attached and she says she wants to avoid the bill parents of such a senseless and avoidable loss.

Palm says Jaime was athletic, outgoing, and lively, and whenever she’s outside, she looks for butterflies, as a symbol that her daughter will stop by to say hello.