In February 2024, caregivers at a daycare center in Wentzville, Missouri, neglected to clear all children from a heavy classroom doorway before the door closed. Because of this oversight, a 3-year-old girl’s finger was caught when the door slammed shut, causing her left middle fingertip to get amputated and her left ring finger to be crushed.
The little girl’s amputated finger would not stop bleeding, yet the caregivers lacked the proper training and knowledge on how to handle emergency situations like this. Instead of rushing the toddler to a local hospital that was located two minutes from the daycare center, caregivers called the toddler’s mother to come get her, telling her that her daughter’s finger was bleeding. They did not provide additional details. The inaction of the caregivers forced the toddler to suffer excruciating pain for 30 minutes while waiting for her mother to arrive at the center. When the toddler’s mother arrived, caregivers handed her daughter’s severed fingertip to her in a plastic baggie.
Our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm joined forces with another law firm in Missouri to hold the daycare center accountable for its safety failures that caused the toddler’s finger injuries at the daycare and for its lack of caregiver training that made her suffer longer. Together, our two firms got justice to help the toddler and her family move forward.
How the Daycare Center in Wentzville, Missouri, Failed a 3-Year-Old
Like other working parents, the toddler’s mom, in this case, trusted the daycare center in Wentzville, Missouri, would keep her 3-year-old daughter safe. However, the center and its caregivers dropped the ball numerous times, causing this child’s serious finger injuries.
To start, daycare centers in Missouri are required by law to closely supervise and keep safe all children in their care. This means that caregivers, in this case, should have had close eyes on the toddler to ensure that she—and her little fingers and hands—were clear of the classroom’s doorway when people were entering and exiting the room. Instead, caregivers were not watching the toddler, nor were they close to her at the time of the incident to quickly intervene.
Secondly, local centers are required to train all workers and caregivers on all aspects of childcare safety, including what to do in the event of an emergency. Every center should have an emergency medical care plan for each child as part of their enrollment paperwork. These documents detail the center’s policies in the event a child requires immediate treatment by a health care professional or emergency care. The caregivers at the Missouri daycare center responsible for the 3-year-old girl were not trained or knowledgeable about what to do when they saw the little girl experience an amputated finger and profusely bleeding. In addition, common sense would lead most people to rush the toddler to an emergency room. Instead, caregivers put her amputated fingertip in a plastic baggie and had the bleeding toddler wait in pain for more than 30 minutes until her mother arrived at the daycare center.
This was not an isolated incident at the Missouri daycare center. The center received 24 citations from the state for similar violations, including caregivers having incomplete training, improperly supervising children, and not maintaining essential medical records for children. Simply put, the daycare center in Wentzville acted recklessly and caused an innocent 3-year-old’s serious and traumatic injury.
Getting Justice for a Toddler After Her Finger Amputation and Injuries
As you can imagine, the 3-year-old girl’s mother rushed her to a local emergency room as soon as she saw the extent of her daughter’s finger injuries at the daycare center. Doctors evaluated the injury and found the toddler sustained a traumatic amputation of the tip of the third finger, along with severing of the tissue and bone. They then transferred her to a local children’s hospital for additional treatment.
The 3-year-old girl received partial sedation and a nerve block while doctors loosely closed the amputation site. However, her wound remained open, and due to the complexities of her injury and treatment, the little girl needed to stay overnight in the hospital. Doctors sent her to a pediatric orthopedist for follow-up care and ongoing treatment. Despite all of her treatments, she has a scar and permanent disfigurement of her finger.
In addition, the toddler experienced noticeable behavioral changes following the traumatic incident at the Missouri daycare center. She regressed in her potty training, became clingier to her mom, and had a hard time regulating her emotions. The 3-year-old, who was potty trained prior to the daycare incident, began wetting the bed frequently and reverted to using pull-up diapers nightly. She also became aggressive and threw tantrums at her new daycare center, resulting in her mom taking her daughter out of daycare and hiring an in-home babysitter during the workday. The toddler also stopped participating in ballet, tap, and gymnastics classes that she loved because she was worried about hurting her hand.
The toddler’s pediatrician diagnosed her with an adjustment disorder with mixed disturbance of emotions and conduct and referred her to a local counselor for play therapy.
In partnership with the Missouri law firm, our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm held the daycare center in Wentzville accountable for causing the toddler’s serious and permanent finger injuries. The toddler and her family were awarded a settlement that compensated them for all damages, including expensive medical bills, disfigurement, trauma, and ongoing therapy that helped the toddler process and move forward from the traumatic incident in a healthy way.
The Button Law Firm Can Help Your Family After a Daycare Finger Injury
If your child experienced a serious finger or hand injury because a daycare center did not comply with childcare safety laws, contact our experienced daycare and child injury lawyers at The Button Law Firm. We are ready to listen, fight for your family, and help your family move forward. Our lawyers at The Button Law Firm are recognized on the prestigious Texas Super Lawyers list, and we can help guide you after a traumatizing incident involving your child. We work on contingency, meaning we don’t charge you or collect any upfront fees to get started on your case. Call us at 214-699-4409, email us at [email protected], or fill out a contact form for a free case evaluation.
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