A horrified Oklahoman mother was livid when, picking up her two boys from day care, she found out that they were badly burned after spending a day in the sun.
“I dropped them off at Happiness Is a Learning Center at 9 a.m., and that day they were going to Splash Pad, a local water park,” said Shaunna Broaday to BuzzFeed.
Photo credit: Shaunna Broadway / Facebook
“I got off work at 5 p.m. and went to pick them up, and they were clearly burned.
“[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.”
Because the employees of the daycare didn’t have sunscreens, they advised everyone to keep their clothes on at the waterpark where they would spend the day.
Shaunna’s boys 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,” she said. “The heat index was 118 degrees in Vinita that day. The news was telling us not to be outside.”
When she called the hospital, all they said were that they couldn’t do anything until the burns blistered.
“They told us to go to the pharmacy, where we got Silvadene cream and pain meds, but nothing seemed to help. They were in pain all night.”
Photo credit: Shaunna Broadway / Facebook
The following day, the boys were sent to the hospital where the doctors lanced the boils and blisters on their backs, applied cream, and sent them home with more pain medicine.
Find out what happens to the boys on the next page
“But the boys kept screaming and crying all day,” she said. My oldest one’s chest started hurting and he said he was having trouble breathing.”
The boys suffered second-degree burns, but Shaunna’s oldest, who is a redhead and had a naturally fairer skin, also suffered third-degree burns.
Shaunna has already filed a report to the local police in the hope that her kids get justice for the neglect committed to them.
“We are investigating the criminal element of neglect with the Oklahoma Department of Human Services,” said Officer Bobby Floyd.
“We’ve been conducting interviews at the day care, the hospital, and with other parents to see if there’s anything that leads us to conclude it was neglect or child abuse.”
Photo credit: Shaunna Broadway / Facebook
While at the hospital, the boys’ wounds were cleaned, and the dead skins were removed to promote healing, but they still remained sedated.
Shaunna said, “They’re getting better but it’s definitely taking time and it’s been really hard seeing them in so much pain and not sleeping…it’s a lot for a mom right now.”
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READ: 3-month-old boy dies in a day care center on his mom’s first day of work
READ: PH heat index at “dangerous level”: protect your child from heatstroke
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