We’ve always stressed the importance of being safe in the sun and this story shows exactly why sun safety is so important for not only ourselves, but our kids too.
A daycare centre is being investigated for neglect after two young boys suffered second and third-degree burns during a day trip to a local water park.
Shaunna Broadway from Vinita, Oklahoma, dropped off her sons, ages 5 and 7, at Happiness Learning Center at 9 a.m. on Friday before going to work. When she returned after 5 p.m. to pick the boys up, they were burned and in a lot of pain.
“[The employees] were actually making fun of my older son, because both boys got sunburns but he was being a ‘baby’ and crying about it,” Broadway told Buzzfeed.
Daycare staff told Broadway that there was no sunscreen and that the boys were instructed to keep their shirts on, but didn’t listen.
“It was common sense that they shouldn’t have been out in the sun all day, even if they wore their clothes,” said Broadway. “The heat index was 118 degrees in Vinita that day. The news was telling us not to be outside.”
Broadway contacted a local hospital but was told that nothing could be done until the burns blistered. The hospital suggested pain medication and cream from a pharmacy, but the boys were in pain all night.
On Saturday, the burns began to blister so Broadway took her boys to the hospital. Doctors lanced the boils, gave the boys more cream and pain medication and sent them home. The boys however were still in pain and the oldest complained of trouble breathing.
On Sunday, Broadway took the boys to the Hillcrest Medical Centre in Tulsa for a third opinion, where she learned they had second and third-degree burns. The boys were then flown to the Shriners Hospital for Children in Galveston, Texas.
Broadway and her family filed a report with the local police on Sunday, who are now conducting interviews with daycare staff and other parents to find any evidence of neglect or child abuse.
“It’s been confirmed that no other children were sunburned in this situation,” Office Bobby Floyd told Buzzfeed. “But we’re also looking at videos from the courthouse to see how long kids were left outside, and exhausting all resources to see what happened and hopefully get justice for these boys.”
Broadway had been planning to pull the boys from the daycare before this incident.
“There were things that made me very uneasy,” she said. “From picking them up dying of thirst because they didn’t have anything to drink all day or staff talking to them badly… it wasn’t anything serious enough to call the cops but I was definitely thinking of pulling them out.”
“My kids need a voice—I’m that voice, and I just want justice for them. And I don’t want this to ever happen to anyone else.”
It’s so important to keep sun safe. In Canada, temperatures are soaring this week, so be sure to brush up on your sun safety knowledge.
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