Kate Gosselin's son had a narrow escape from what would have been a fatal accident on Thursday when he crawled under her van as she sat behind the wheel.
In startling photos obtained by RadarOnline.com, the seven-year-old boy can been seen climbing beneath the family-size van, with his head ending up immediately behind the right front wheel.
"A minivan is a 3000-pound lethal weapon and having children crawling around it is not prudent," KidsAndCars.org president and founder Janette Fennell tells RadarOnline.com exclusively.
The frightening scenario occurred when the former reality star pulled up at a parking lot to meet the school bus and take her eight children home.
Rather than getting out of the huge van to supervise them, Kate stayed in the driver seat as the kids piled in with their big backpacks on their little backs.
But instead of following his siblings into the car, one child thinks it is more fun to scramble all the way under the vehicle and play on the ground where -- if the Kate Plus 8 star had rolled forward or back -- she would have crushed him!
Luckily, he finally gets into the car safely and settles in with the rest of his huge family, and while the incident had a happy ending it alarmed Fennell, a leading advocate for child safety around cars.
As previously noted, a mom’s got to eat and she needs to make sure her children do, too. If she can do that by writing about the best way to save cash on detergent or action figures, what’s the harm? Of course, the CouponCabin.com blogging gig may not be enough to pay the bills. I mean, we can’t all engage in the mindblowingly lucrative work of blogging about celebrities and pop culture. (I just typed that sentence while gazing at my diamond-encrusted fingernails as they tappa-tapped on my keyboard, which is made out of genuine leather and features function keys ensconced in imported silk.) But even if this keeps her busy and semi-compensated for a while — and less focused on the new TV deal she said she wants earlier this week on “The View” — this is a good thing.
And the comments on those Celebritology posts will be so rich with gleeful sarcasm that they may incite a phenomenon scientists have long predicted: the Big Snark Bang. Sure, both the blogosphere and the universe may immediately combust as a result. But it will be worth it.
As a result of Gosselin’s new job, CouponCabin.com just got a lot more publicity.
And that’s super-exciting because, as Gosselin noted in the aforementioned press release, CouponCabin.com is the place where you can easily find the best deals on practically everything.
And there are two things we all need more of in these challenging times: great deals on practically everything and Kate Gosselin.
Celebrities don’t quite grasp the concept that the day will come when they lose popularity and the money will stop rolling in. It’s exactly the situation Kate Gosselin and her eight golden eggs are in right now.
Kate says she was unprepared for the cancellation of her TLC show and now can’t maintain her $2.5 million a year lifestyle. But Kate doesn’t want to deprive her children of the style of living they’re used to despite the fact she can’t afford it. She even considered going back to nursing. Boo hoo. This is me shedding a tear for her in my non-climate controlled room which is now bordering on 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Oh, never mind. The tear evaporated.
“I’m freaking out. Big time,” Kate says. “My kids weren’t ready. Nobody was. I’ve never quit a job in my life without having something else lined up. This has been ended for me on a moment’s notice. I don’t know what’s next.”
“Their first comment was, ‘No more fun trips?’” Kate says. “For them, no more job for Mom means no more trips, no more fun. They started asking, ‘Are we still going to be living in our house? Are we still going to be able to go to our school?’ I was not prepared for that.”
After the show was canceled, I said, 'I'll go back to my old nursing job.' If nothing comes up, I'll do it," Gosselin says. "But the scary reality is, 12-hour nursing shifts every day wouldn't let me continue to provide well for eight kids essentially on my own. When you think about it that way, it gets really scary."
As for the little ones, who not only spent most of their lives on camera, but also became accustomed to a rather lavish lifestyle (i.e., cool trips, nice home), they, too, have expressed their concerns to Gosselin as well.
"I told them I will work my fingers to the bone to make sure that they can stay here and go to their school," she says. "There are no guarantees in life for anyone, but they know that I'm giving it my best shot."
And while her show may be going bye-bye, Gosselin seems determined to make sure that she, herself, doesn't disappear.
"I want to stay in TV because I feel comfortable there, it's an exciting life. I'd really love to find a place of my own on a talk show or something like that," she says, before adding this threat promise: "I'll be back. This is too much fun not to find a way back.
Katie Irene "Kate" Gosselin, born March 28, 1975 is an American television personality. Gosselin achieved national recognition on the reality show Jon & Kate Plus 8, in which she and her then-husband Jon Gosselin are profiled as they raise their atypical family of sextuplets and twins.
Early life
Kate Gosselin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She became a Registered Nurse after completing a diploma program at The Reading Hospital and Medical Center in Reading, Pennsylvania. She then worked as a labor and delivery nurse at Reading Hospital until 2004.
Career
Reality TV
The family was featured in a special on Discovery Health in September 2005 entitled Surviving Sextuplets and Twins. A year later they were featured in another special entitled Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later. With high ratings from the specials, Discovery Health signed the couple to a reality series that aired beginning in April 2007, called Jon & Kate Plus 8, which documented their lives. To produce the show, the family was filmed for three or four days per week. The show's first two seasons aired on Discovery Health Channel and then moved to TLC. The family received payment for appearing on the show.
On June 22, 2009, an extended one-hour episode was aired. Jon and Kate announced that they were separating. The two had met with Pennsylvania attorneys on the day that the episode aired to finalize plans for divorce rather than separation. They explained, in separate interviews, that "the show must go on." However, TLC announced on June 23, 2009, that the show would be placed on hiatus effective immediately. According to TLC, Jon and Kate had moved the focus away from the family and the change in the dynamic, as well as the production difficulties that had occurred because the couple was no longer living together, made it unclear whether the show was still viable.
On September 29, 2009, TLC announced the title of the show would be changed from "Jon & Kate Plus 8" to "Kate Plus 8," and would follow Kate as a single mother. Jon would continue to appear, albeit infrequently, on the show. The last episode was a season five finale on November 23, 2009, because of Jon's decision to stop filming.[7] Reruns of the show still air on TLC. Kate Gosselin filmed a talk show pilot with Paula Deen in September 2009. By the end of 2009, it had not been picked up by a television network. In late December 2009 it was also announced that Gosselin was no longer being considered for a role in the planned show because she was deemed "too controversial" by show executives.[8] Gosselin was a contestant on the tenth season of the television show Dancing With The Stars[9] and had expressed a strong desire to remain on the show and win despite widespread criticism of her dancing. She was partnered with Tony Dovolani. She was eliminated from the competition on April 20, 2010.
In April 2010 TLC announced Gosselin would be getting her own show called Twist of Kate. The series will feature her traveling the country, visiting mothers who have written her letters about their stories. TLC has a new series of specials planned called Kate Plus 8.
Shortly after Gosselin was eliminated from Dancing With the Stars, rumors began flying that Gosselin would be featured on the upcoming edition of the popular TV show The Bachelorette. However, several people have denied this, including the show's creator, Mike Fleiss, and a rep for TLC. They did however, state that it would be interesting to place her in the show.
On June 24, it was announced that Gosselin would be back as a co-host on The View on July 2, on which she has previously co-hosted twice.
In August 2011 it was announced that Kate+8 would not be returning to TLC in September.
[edit]Author
Gosselin has also written several non-fiction books. Her first book was published in November 2008, titled "Multiple Blessings." It debuted at number 5 on New York Times Best-Seller list, and sold over 500,000 copies by the end of 2009. Her second book, "Eight Little Faces", was released in April 2009, and also debuted at number 5 on the New York Times Best-Seller list. Her third book, titled "I Just Want You To Know" was released on April 13, 2010, selling approximately 10,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number 103 on the New York Times Best-Seller list. She will soon be releasing a cook book called "Love is in the Mix".
Personal life
Gosselin gave birth to twin girls, Cara Nicole and Madelyn Kate "Mady" on October 8, 2000 born at 35 weeks gestation. The couple used fertility treatment to get pregnant because Kate was initially unable to conceive due to polycystic ovary syndrome. After further treatments, Gosselin became pregnant again and she gave birth to sextuplets on May 10, 2004, in Hershey, Pennsylvania, at the Penn State Hershey Medical Center. She gave birth at just shy of 30 weeks gestation. The sextuplets were born 10 weeks premature, which is common in the multiple births that result from fertility treatments. The early birth required that the six infants be placed on ventilators. The sextuplets are, in order of birth, Alexis Faith, Hannah Joy, Aaden Jonathan, Collin Thomas, Leah Hope and Joel Kevin. According to her newest book, Kate revealed that very early in the pregnancy there were seven embryos, but one did not develop. The couple was featured in the NBC reality TV show Home Delivery, when their home in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania, was renovated to accommodate the large family.
The couple filed for divorce on June 22, 2009. Jon and Kate have said that their eight children will remain in their Pennsylvania home, and the two of them will move back and forth to accommodate the custody agreement. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that the couple's divorce was finalized. Kate had been granted the ownership of the family home and primary custody of the children.
Bibliography
Multiple Blessings (November 1, 2008)
Eight Little Faces (April 2009)
I Just Want You to Know (April 13, 2010)
Love Is in the Mix (2011)
Filmography
2005 Surviving Sextuplets and Twins Herself One-hour special
2006 Sextuplets and Twins: One Year Later Herself One-hour special
2007–09 Jon & Kate Plus 8 Herself Reality series
2010 Dancing with the Stars Herself Competitive reality series
2010-2011 Kate Plus 8 Herself Reality series
2010 Twist of Kate Herself Reality series
