Texas mom accidentally runs over 2yo son with her car, says ‘accidents happen’ but her followers are openly ‘judging’

Kelly Hopton-Jones, a Texas-based parenting influencer who runs the Instagram account Hillside Farmhouse with over 63,000 followers, has shared that she accidentally ran over her 23-month-old son with her car. She detailed the incident in a lengthy social media post. The accident happened on a Wednesday when she was about to drive her 4-year-old daughter, Lily, to pick up donuts before a dance performance.

According to the New York Post, her young son Henry ran out of the garage just as she was leaving. She said that “in a matter of seconds” he was hit by the car. Neighbors stepped in right away to look after her daughter while she rushed Henry to the emergency room.

X-rays of Henry’s chest, legs, and neck all came back normal, and a neurological exam showed no signs of a head injury. However, he did suffer fractures to his pelvis that will “take time to heal,” along with a few abrasions. Hopton-Jones called it “the worst day of our lives” and said it was “a true miracle” her son wasn’t more seriously hurt. She also shared photos of herself holding Henry’s hand in his hospital bed.

The emotional weight of the accident shows how quickly things can go wrong, even with parents close by

The influencer admitted on Instagram that she and her family keep replaying the event trying to figure out how it happened when they were all nearby. “I don’t have that answer,” she wrote. She also said, “It’s so easy to start questioning everything. If the morning had looked different. If B had gone to work like he normally would have, both kids would have been safely in their car seats.”

She acknowledged that going down the road of hypotheticals could drive them crazy, and ended her post by saying, “But accidents happen.” Her followers, however, were not all sympathetic, with many openly stating they were “judging” her over the incident. This kind of public scrutiny is something many parenting influencers face, and even a dad catching his teen sneaking friends home drew strong reactions from online audiences.

In her case, the majority of the negative remarks rested on the timing and location of her post that made it online on the same day the mishap occured, with ber injured son left to pose in her photos.

The reaction from her followers also points to the intense public scrutiny that parenting influencers face when they share difficult and personal moments online. According to UNICEF, experts like Stacey Steinberg have noted that “sharenting,” which is the practice of sharing content about children on social media or blogs, carries real risks.

These include the possibility of bad actors targeting children based on information found online, and data brokers building digital profiles that could predict a child’s future health issues or behaviors. Steinberg, who is the Director of the University of Florida’s Center on Children and Families, also points out that sharing content about children without involving them in the decision misses an opportunity to model consent and show that parents value their child’s privacy. 

There is also the concern that images shared online can be repurposed or misused in ways parents didn’t intend. Some parenting approaches that seem well-meaning can also backfire over time, as seen in cases where a decade of gentle parenting created anxious, entitled kids.

Experts suggest that parents who are having second thoughts about past sharing habits should start curating or deleting older posts. As children grow older, involving them in managing their own digital footprint can be a helpful way to handle these challenges together. Being mindful of details like locations or identifiable school logos in posts is also important.