A mother is demanding answers after her 19-month-old daughter was allegedly attacked by another child at a New Orleans day care facility.
Cymande Ford received a call from the director of Angel’s Haven Daycare on Feb. 9 around 11 a.m. The director told Ford that she needed to get to the school immediately because her daughter Harley has been injured.
“I see Harley’s face, and it looks like she’s been mauled by a cat, so I start screaming, I’m crying, I dropped my purse, and I ask what happened,” Ford explained. “I took Harley, and I’m just asking the school’s director what happened.”
Ford said the director told her that her daughter had been in a tussle with another 1-year-old at the day care.
“Seven bites up one arm. She has a couple bites up the other arm. She has pants on, but the 1-year-old has bitten through her pants on both legs,” Ford said. “You can see the teeth marks. They’re clear and visible.”
The director and her daughter, who works at the school, accompanied Ford to the hospital. When the doctor started to ask questions about the incident, the daughter revealed another shocking piece of the story.
The nurse asked, “So, what time did this happen?”
Ford replied, “11 o’clock’ because that’s the time they called me.”
The director’s daughter interjected, “Oh no, it happened a little bit before 8 a.m.”
This made Ford question the day care some more after they waited three hours to let her know that her daughter was injured.
“It was hard enough for me to send my child to day care because I’m a business owner. This is just crazy for this to be happening on her third day after something that I already fought myself with so much,” Ford said.
Ford is the small business owner of the Ugly Betty Boy Crush jewelry shop located in Metairie, Louisiana. She said that the day care was recommended to her and it is only 14 minutes away from her shop.
Ford wasn’t given an explanation on why it took so long for the day care to let her know that her child was injured. There were also no visible injuries on the other child allegedly involved in the incident.
A report was filed with the New Orleans Police Department. The Department of Children and Family Services is investigating the incident.
Media outlets have tried to reach out to the director of the day care to explain the incident, but the director said “no” and hung up.
