An estimated 2 thousand injuries a year nationwide. And most of them are to children.   "We had no idea the extent of his injuries. It was very shocking."   Alex was playing on a treadmill at a friend's house when he fell and got his hand stuck on the conveyor belt.   "I never want to go through that again."   "This is a rug burn that doesn't stop. It just keeps going until all the skin dies."   New skin had to be grafted onto Alex’s hand.   After a years worth of medical treatment Alex’s hand looks better, but part of it has no feeling.   The number of burns caused by treadmills is rising because there are more homes that have them.   It’s the most popular form of exercise equipment, used by more than 45 million people.   And while there's clearly a risk that you can get hurt by falling off a moving treadmill, the burn hazard isn't so obvious.   Here’s something else to think about. It’s not just kids playing unsupervised who are getting hurt.   In fact, Dr. Mohr says two thirds of the time children are injured when an adult is using the machine.   "The adult doesn't see them coming up behind them and they try and put their hand down to the moving part and their hand gets drawn in the back of the machine."   Here’s a stack of injury reports Fox 9 obtained from the Consumer Product Safety Commission: skin pulled off hand; severe friction burn; 2nd degree skin loss.   After reading these reports one thing stands out, most of the children who are getting burned by treadmills are very young, usually only 2 or 3 years old.   Little ones are drawn to a moving treadmill like bees to a spring flower.   The Fox 9 Investigators set up this demonstration with the help of Regions Hospital.   A group of kids is playing in a basement. They’re happy with toys, until a mom turns on a treadmill on the other side of the room.   Immediately, this little girl drops what she's doing and heads to the treadmill.   This boy really wants to touch the conveyor belt.   All it takes is for a parent to be distracted for a couple of seconds, and a child's curiosity can turn into a trip to the ER.   Keep in mind, a young child has much slower reflexes than an adult, so they're hands are more likely to get caught in the belt.             Also, their skin is thinner and easier to damage.        Meribeth Wercinski says there was nothing about burns in the handbook that came with her treadmill.   Parents, don't assume your child is too young to figure out how to use one these machines on their own.                    Tyler Johnsrud was seven when he plugged in the power cord, hooked up the safety cut off switch and programmed the family treadmill for a brisk walk.   That’s when his sister Emily flew off and got her arm stuck under the belt.   Doctors used skin from the back of Emily’s head to graft on to her arm.   From now on the Johnsrud's make sure and hide the key for the treadmill.   If you have little ones in the house, there's something else you should do for their safety.        A lot of people like to have their treadmill in the middle of a room, that way if they fall off they won't hit anything.   But that leaves open the possibility for a child to come up from behind without you noticing.   Remember, that's how a lot of kids get hurt.   Dr. Mohr says you can keep better watch of your children if the treadmill is up against a wall, pointing towards the rest of the room.   You may be wondering what if anything manufacturers are doing to address this issue. An industry spokesman tells us quote: "There's no substitute for common sense and proper supervision."