Child Left on Daycare Bus Treated for Dehydration
A child was allegedly left alone on his daycare bus for nearly five hours in Memphis, Tennessee last week.
About the Incident
“He heard my son beating the window and hollering, and he said he ignored it at first but something just told him to go back.” – child’s father, Shuntario Reed.
According to MyFoxMemphis, he three-year-old boy was placed in the bus around 7:30 am last Friday. The bus belonged to his day care, Tree of Learning Child Care.
The child was found by a passerby nearly five hours later. According to that passerby, whose name has not been released, the child was still strapped into his seat and banging on the window.
The passerby alerted the police immediately. The police in turn brought the child straight home at about 1:30 Friday afternoon.
Mr. Reed claims that, when he first saw his son, he began crying because he feared the worst. He was so concerned because his child was drenched with his own sweat. His concerned were well founded as, after being rushed to the hospital, the neglected child was diagnosed with severe dehydration.
The reported temperature on Friday was 94°F, and the heat index was sitting right at 100°F.
About the Day Care
This isn’t the first time Tree of Learning Child Care has been in hot water. The day care has been cited for two violations in the past two years. Both violations had to do with negligence.
The first violation was given when a toddler was left unattended during meal time in March 2014. About a year later, in March 2015, another violation was given during an assessment after a caregiver failed to check on a sleeping child by touch every 15 minutes.
There will likely be a third violation in the day care’s file because the Reed’s filed a complaint with the Division of Human Services after the events on Friday.
