Two boys were hospitalized after they were severely sunburned during a day care field trip. Their mother said that the children's day care took them to a water park in Oklahoma and allowed them to play with no sunscreen.
Happiness is Learning Center was permanently closed as of Tuesday while local police and the Oklahoma Department of Human Services conduct investigations.
The children, 7-year-old Connor and 5-year old Trae, were dropped by their mother Shaunna Broadway at the day care at 9 a.m. on Friday but when she picked them up, the children were crying in pain. Broadway also related that staff members at the day care were laughing at her older child because he was crying about the pain.
The boys spent the day at the water park and one day care staff reportedly told Shauna that they did not have sunscreen and that the children did not want to keep their shirts on.
Photos of the boys revealed that their backs and shoulders were marked by large blisters. Doctors said that Connor's burns reached levels of third degree and both children had second degree burns. The boys also had boils on their back.
Photos of the boys with their burns were considered too graphic they can't be posted in the GoFundMe set up for them.
The children were badly injured that they were airlifted to a children's hospital. The boys were initially brought to a Tulsa hospital but because the burns were so severe, they were flown to a Texas children's facility.
"Right's right, and wrong's wrong, and there's no excuse for this," Broadway said. "I'm a single parent, and I do all I can. I work Monday through Friday, and they have to go to day care."
Records from the Oklahoma Department of Human Services showed that the facility was already cited 19 times since Sept. 30 and mostly because of violations associated with staffing and signage.
A report from May showed that the day care had 16 children in one room that was supposed to cater only nine. In other inspections, a staff member was reported to have made offensive remarks to a child while another took a personal call on her mobile phone.
As of Tuesday, the children were still at the hospital, according to their grandfather. However, they already had their burned skin removed from their back.
