Paddling pool’s glass hurts kids
Number of children in hospital – despite warnings
A NUMBER of young children had to be taken to hospital after suffering serious cuts from glass in People’s Park paddling pool in Llanelli – despite earlier warnings from parents the day before.
On Tuesday, parents raised concerns after their children had been cut with glass found in the newly-renovated Llanelli paddling pool, that is being run by Llanelli Town Council, and re-opened in time for the school summer holidays. But further incidents on Wednesday and Thursday saw three kids taken to hospital.
A NUMBER of young children had to be taken to hospital on Thursday after suffering serious cuts from glass in People’s Park paddling pool in Llanelli – despite earlier warnings from parents the day before.
Last Tuesday, parents raised concerns after their children had been cut with glass found in the newly-renovated Llanelli paddling pool. The paddling pool, that is being run by Llanelli Town Council, had been cleaned and painted in time for the school summer holidays and opened this week.
But, on the hottest days of the year, parents were horrified to find fragments of glass in and around the pool causing injuries to their little ones.
Mum Rhiannon Davies said both her children, five-year-old Medi and three-year-old Oscar were left with marks after finding the glass on Tuesday.
The council made the decision to reopen the paddling pool after the area had been thoroughly cleaned and inspected.
However, further incidents occurred on both Wednesday and Thursday with an estimated three children having to be taken to hospital after suffering lacerations.
Mum Katie Todd, 33, was traumatised when she heard her four-year-old daughter Rose Jones screaming in the pool after she had been cut.
“The cut was really big and very deep so we took her straight to Prince Philip Hospital where she was referred to Glangwili and was in so much distress that she needed to be sedated,” said the mum.
“She’s been X-rayed to make sure that there were no glass particles left.
“She’s had to be force fed and be put to sleep so they could stitch it up and now is on antibiotics to make sure that there is no infection,” added Ms Todd.
“The glass that cut her was a really big and chunky piece, I had no idea that there was glass found in the pool the day before or I would never have taken her there.”
But Rose was not the only one to suffer injuries from the paddling pool after a worker at Prince Philip Hospital confirmed to the mum that there had been another two instances earlier that day.
Mrs Williams, who did not want to give her first name, also had to take her three-year-old daughter to hospital after suffering a deep cut on her hand from something in the pool.
“It’s a big cut – about an inch deep and an inch long,” said Mrs Williams.
“I’ve made a formal complaint to the council, who have at least given me a reasonable outcome.”
Following these incidents the paddling pool was shut and is being investigated.
Llanelli Town councillor John Jenkins said: “The first glass-related incident was Tuesday and those affected found blue paint on the glass which indicated the pool had not been cleaned fully before being painted which is unforgivable and will never happen again.”
“I was there Wednesday at 7.30am, when four of us picked up every little piece of glass we could find both in and in the area around the pool and Wednesday passed without incident.”
“On Thursday, despite the same checks and cleaning before the pool was filled there were still two incidents possibly involving glass which leads us to deduce that shards of glass are being inadvertently carried into the pool area possibly on the underside of footwear.
“The decision was then made by town council staff to immediately close the pool until a full investigation can be carried out and the pool will only reopen if the town council feels it can get the level of risk down to the lowest reasonable level.”
Councillor Sion Davies added: “I’m absolutely devastated to hear what’s happened.
“We’ve fought so hard to get the pool ready for the school summer holidays. For broken glass to be found in a children’s paddling pool makes me furious.
“My own nephew – who’s less than two-yearsold – was cut playing in the pool this week. My heart breaks for him and the families who’ve had their day ruined.
“Local families deserve answers now about how this happened.
“My hope is that the pool can reopen soon – but children’s safety has to come first.”