"It missed his eye by the teensiest amount. He was so very lucky to not be hurt."

From the moment you become a parent you feel a pure, biological urge to protect your child from all harm, all sadness and all danger. Some of the things you need to protect your child from are obvious like hunger, cold and sadness.

Then there are times when you encounter something so unexpected you know you need to share your experience to help other parents.

Mum Rachael Vaughan was shopping with her adorable two-year-old son at a shopping centre in Newcastle West when he began hysterically crying after being placed in a shopping trolley. Not unusual, right? Most toddlers don’t enjoy the confines of the shopping trolley unless they have a toy or treat in their hands.

His crying was a little out of the ordinary, though, and motherly instinct kicked in, leading her to stop rushing around and take a closer look why her son was now crying with his face in his hands. Someone had left two of those hard white plastic cable ties to the bar that was resting against her son. They were poking straight up, ready to cause maximum damage.

Her son had come straight down on them and as a result was nursing a painful scratch to his face, right next to his eye.

Rachael shared her story on Facebook to serve as a warning to other parents:

I don't know how I missed it, but I immediately saw what had made him cry - two white cable ties had been tied to the bar that sits against the child seat (not the main trolley handle), so that they poked straight up.
Out of habit, I had plonked my son straight down in the seat, not checking anything was wrong with it, and he came straight down on one of the cable ties.

It missed his eye by the teensiest amount. He was so very lucky to not be hurt.

Rachael sought out the manager of the supermarket and he and a security guard immediately began checking all remaining trolleys, removing a stack of cable ties left on other trolleys.

At first we thought that the cable ties had served some purpose to store workers and may have been left on by accident, however the store manager confirmed that the cable ties had been deliberately left on the shopping trolley, suggested it had been done by some of the "strange characters" in the area. He added that the cable ties couldn't have been left by trolley workers as they use specially designed straps.

The distraught mum says her experience serves as a warning to other parents.

Please check your trolleys as you put your little ones in - I feel so awful that I didn't spot them! They were so easy to miss!
My son was so lucky, so we're sharing our experience with you in the hope we might stop it happening somewhere else to another little one.

Many parents shared Rachael's post so other mums could keep an eye out while shopping with their children.

The Motherish has reached out to Rachael Vaughan for comment.

Has your child ever been injured after using a shopping trolley? What do you advise parents to look out for when shopping with their kids?