MILAN, Mich. – Sean Alexander of Milan was starting to mow the yard on a Saturday afternoon in May 2014.
His 5 year-old son Tyler was inside the house with his mother, Kelli Firouzi, who was doing laundry.
No one saw Tyler slip outside to try to shoot his dad with a marshmallow gun. Alexander backed up and felt a bump. It was Tyler.
"I didn't even realize he was outside till I heard the screams, 'Call 911, Tyler's hurt,'" said Firouzi.
Then she saw the blood.
"We put Tyler on the kitchen floor, and I sat there with him, and then I realized what exactly happened," said Firouzi. "He wasn't crying. I think his body was just in shock."
She tried to keep him calm.
"And then he says, 'Am I going to die?'" said Firouzi.
Tyler was taken to the hospital and into surgery.
"He lost two of his little toes, and parts of the bones in his right side of his foot," said Firouzi.
She is grateful that doctors were able to save Tyler's foot.
"When you seen it, and see what it looked like, deep down you thought, there's no way he was going to be able to save that," she said.
Since Tyler's accident, the family has learned how common lawn mower injuries are.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, more than 17,000 children are injured by lawn mowers each year. More than 600 of those children suffer an amputation.
Experts say most accidents occur when adults don't realize that a child is nearby, or a child runs up suddenly or a child falls off the mower while riding as a passenger.
"You're careful, everybody's careful. Everybody tries to protect their kids from anything that could happen. But there's always that one accident. There's always something that could happen," said Firouzi.
Determined to help prevent accidents like theirs, Tyler's family is part of a new public service announcement featuring 13 families from 10 states, all with children injured in lawn mower accidents.
The families are part of a group called Limbs Matter.
The group urges families to always keep children inside when mowing the lawn. They say it needs to be a strictly enforced, standing rule.
Two years after the accident, it's still too painful for Tyler's father to talk about. The family got rid of their riding mower. They now hire someone else to mow while Tyler is at school.
Firouzi cringes when she sees people posting pictures on Facebook of their children riding on lawn mowers with a family member.
"I probably lost maybe 15 to 20 friends because I comment and say, 'You know, not trying to be your mom, but you need to realize what will happen, what could happen,'" said Firouzi. "You never think it's going to happen to you, no matter what, and I never thought it would happen to us either."
Tyler hasn't let the injury slow him down.
"He's doing great. (He) plays soccer, played basketball, rides a bike, runs around," said Firouzi. "He's a tough kid. He does a good job. He does a very good job."
Tyler has a message for other children.
"Stay inside while they're mowing so they don't get hurt," he said.