The Children’s Aid Society is investigating after three small children escaped from a Windsor daycare and wandered onto a busy roadway.
Terry from Windsor, who has asked BlackburnNews.com to refrain from using her last name, said she could not believe her eyes on Monday, when she saw a young child around the age of 2, about to walk onto Ottawa St. without supervision.
“I thought it was a puppy at the side of the road,” she said, but quickly realized it was, in fact, a small child trying to get down from the roadside curb. “I told my friend, ‘pull over, pull over’ and I was frantic — I was freaking. I got out of the car before she even stopped driving.”
Terry said she ran towards the child and discovered there were three children on the road. A couple of other concerned citizens had also rushed to the children to prevent them from walking into the path of a vehicle. Terry said despite the presence of three small children on the road; cars continued to pass by busily.
Terry and the two others who had stopped realized that a daycare was nearby at La Garderie Les Petites Mains, and walked the children towards the building. That’s when one of the employees from the facility came outside.
“I don’t even remember what she said because I was hysterical and I was screaming because I was so mad,” said Terry. “I just kept asking, ‘where were you, where were you.'”
The children were fortunately unharmed, following the incident.
Terry and at least one other person contacted police about the incident, but a criminal investigation is not being conducted at this time. The Windsor Police Service has confirmed that Children’s Aid has been notified about the incident and is investigating
The daycare supervisor at La Garderie Les Petites Mains, which is part of École L’Envolée elementary school, told BlackburnNews.com that she would not comment on the incident until the investigation was completed. However, she did say a teacher had been sent home as a result of the incident, and the parents of the children have been notified.
Terry said seeing those children in that kind of danger made her think of her grandson.
“That was the first thing I thought of — my grandson — and he’s the same age. That was the worst part. I think that’s what really shook me up,” she said. “Those kids were so young.”
-With files from Maureen Revait