On July 7, 2023, Taylor Bethard said she found her 10-month-old daughter Esther Jo not breathing and without a pulse. Taylor said she began CPR while Esther’s older siblings watched. Esther died that day. According to Fox News’s account of Taylor’s interview, Esther had swallowed a water bead. cpsc.gov · foxnews.com
On July 6, 2026, Taylor and Tyler Bethard filed a lawsuit against Target in Hennepin County, Minnesota, over Esther’s death. The filing followed the jurisdictional dismissal of their claims against Target in a 2025 New York case, according to CBS Minnesota. spectrumnews1.com · cbsnews.com
After Esther died, the family set up a fundraiser to help pay funeral expenses. Taylor began encouraging people to contact school boards, day cares, preschools and teachers and urge them to stop using water beads. After Taylor contacted the superintendent, her local school district stopped allowing water beads, according to her account to Fox News. foxnews.com
The Bethards say they bought a Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kit at Target for another child, according to Spectrum News’s account of the lawsuit. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Buffalo Games announced the recall of the kit in September 2023 because swallowed beads can expand inside a child and cause intestinal obstruction. Buffalo Games had received one report of a 10-month-old child’s death in Wisconsin and one report of a 9-month-old child in Maine who needed surgery for an intestinal obstruction. spectrumnews1.com · cpsc.gov
Taylor kept taking her warning beyond the family’s school district. In comments submitted to the commission for its 2026 and 2027 priorities hearing, she asked the agency to move a water-bead rule forward, saying she wanted other families to avoid the same tragedy. The commission estimates that 6,300 water-bead-related ingestion injuries were treated in U.S. emergency departments from 2017 through 2022. cpsc.gov · cpsc.gov
In the same statement, Taylor said she and Tyler were still fielding questions from Esther’s siblings while “fighting to give Esther Jo a voice.” cpsc.gov
The Bethards’ account that the kit was bought for another child points to a safety concern that extends beyond the intended user: younger children in the same household may encounter water beads even when the activity was never meant for them. CPSC’s recall over ingestion, choking and obstruction hazards, together with its estimate of 6,300 emergency-department-treated water-bead ingestion injuries from 2017 through 2022, makes that exposure pathway significant enough to warrant attention. For water-bead products, warnings and safeguards should account for any child who may gain access outside the planned activity.
Sources used:
Taylor Bethard, 26-27 CPSC Priorities Hearing: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/PublicComments-CPSC-Agenday-and-Priorties-Hearing-for-FY2026and20207.pdf?VersionId=ZVQGLu6S2HaoHD3SZVicUieD8rP4JGv0
Fox News, Wisconsin mom calls for change after her 10-month-old daughter dies from swallowing a water bead: https://www.foxnews.com/lifestyle/wisconsin-mom-calls-change-10-month-old-daughter-dies-swallowing-water-bead
Spectrum News 1, Waukesha County couple sues Target after child dies from water bead: https://spectrumnews1.com/wi/madison/news/2026/07/13/waukesha-county-couple-lawsuit-target-child-death-water-bead
CBS Minnesota, A Wisconsin family is suing Target after their 10-month-old died from swallowing a water bead: https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/wisconsin-family-suing-target-toddler-swallow-water-bead/
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Buffalo Games Recalls Chuckle & Roar Ultimate Water Beads Activity Kits Due to Serious Ingestion, Choking and Obstruction Hazards; One Infant Death Reported; Sold Exclusively at Target: https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2023/Buffalo-Games-Recalls-Chuckle-Roar-Ultimate-Water-Beads-Activity-Kits-Due-to-Serious-Ingestion-Choking-and-Obstruction-Hazards-One-Infant-Death-Reported-Sold-Exclusively-at-Target
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, CPSC’s New Federal Water Beads Safety Standard Takes Effect to Protect Children from Deadly Hazard: https://www.cpsc.gov/Newsroom/News-Releases/2026/CPSC%E2%80%99s-New-Federal-Water-Beads-Safety-Standard-Takes-Effect-to-Protect-Children-from-Deadly-Hazard