'Her shoe got sucked into the escalator': Toronto family warns of potential risk of wearing Crocs

CTV National News: Crocs on escalators warning A young girl says her Crocs shoe got sucked into the top of an escalator while shopping with her mother in Toronto. Heather Wright has more.

A Toronto family is speaking out after their 10-year-old daughter’s Crocs got stuck in an escalator, ripping the entire toe area of the clog off.

“It was so shocking,” says the girl’s mother Arax Copeman. “Her shoe got sucked into the escalator. I don’t know how else to explain it. It was the most bizarre thing.”

Copeman was shopping with her daughter, Violet, at the Yonge-Eglinton Centre Mall in midtown Toronto in September when they took the escalator to an upper level. As they were about to get off, Violet says she noticed her shoe was stuck. Next thing, she was sent flying.

“My mom was ahead of me and caught me,” Violet says. “I went flying and my Crocs came off. I was like ‘What just happened?’”

Violet was wearing her Crocs in “regular mode,” where the back shoe strap is folded forward and becomes a slip-on. Had she been wearing them in “sport mode,” where the strap remains folded backward, her mother worries her foot wouldn’t have been able to get out and her toes could have been stuck in the escalator teeth.

“She managed to fall forward out of them, so her toes didn't get sucked in,” Copeman says.

“That much of a piece came off,” adds Violet, pointing to the large chunk missing from her clogs. “How did my toe not come off?”

The Copemans describe the entire experience as scary and shocking, but a quick internet search reveals these incidents are not uncommon. There are dozens of pictures and reported incidents showing Crocs and other soft-soled footwear stuck in escalator “teeth.”

As a result, some malls and businesses have posted signs on escalators encouraging people not to wear soft-soled shoes like Crocs on escalators. There are no rules prohibiting Crocs at Walt Disney World, where there have been reports that the theme park had banned the popular clog. Walt Disney World confirms to CTV National News the shoes are welcome to be worn on all rides and attractions.

In 2007, Crocs called for better escalator safety after a two-year-old in Singapore lost their toe when their clog was caught in an escalator.

The Copemans say they are speaking out because they want more families to know of the potential risks of the wildly popular shoes.

“These shoes aren't going to go away and so I think Crocs needs to do something,” Copeman says, suggesting a warning on the boxes or tags. “Put something around the shoe that a parent or guardian needs to clip off before they put it on their kid’s feet for the first time.”

CTV News reached out to Crocs multiple times but has not heard back from the company.

“I think people need to know that the shoes can get sucked in at the top of the escalator,” says Copeman. “Someone needs to say something to prevent something really scary from happening.”