Boys So Sunburned at Daycare They're Airlifted to Hospital

Daycare shut its doors yesterday while Oklahoma investigates
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 29, 2015 8:27 AM CDT
Boys So Sunburned at Daycare They're Airlifted to Hospital
The two boys are shown.   (GoFundMe)

A northeast Oklahoma daycare shut its doors yesterday after a mother reported her two young sons were severely sunburned during an outing to a water park. Happiness Is a Learning Center daycare in Vinita agreed to cease operations while the state Department of Human Services and police investigate, says DHS spokeswoman Debra Martin. "They're trying to determine exactly what happened, who was involved, and whether or not compliance issues were broken," Martin says. Shaunna Broadway tells KOTV that a daycare worker let her 5- and 7-year-old sons play outside Friday without shirts or sunscreen. Photos show the boys' back and shoulders covered with giant blisters. "Whether it was intentional or not intentional, they were supposed to take care of them, and they did not—and that's the bottom line," says Broadway.

"I'm a single parent, and I do all I can," Broadway tells the station. "I work Monday through Friday, and they have to go to daycare." Broadway says she initially took her boys to a Tulsa hospital, but that because of the severity of the burns, they were flown to a children's facility in Texas. A GoFundMe page set up for the boys was originally yanked because a photo of the burns was deemed too graphic, a relative tells the Blaze. The page says Conner suffered second- and third-degree burns, while Trey's were second-degree. Meanwhile, a review of Oklahoma DHS records shows the facility has been cited 19 times since Sept. 30, mostly for violations connected to staffing and signage. Martin said there are no plans for the daycare to reopen. (You can see two photos of the burns here; warning, they're graphic.)

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