LAUDERHILL, FLA. (WSVN) - One day after more than two dozen children were hospitalized after falling ill at a Lauderhill preschool, parents are speaking out.
“Somebody call you that your child’s going on a stretcher going in an ambulance, you blacking out,” said mother Christine King.
Nineteen children at Ave Marie Friends Preparatory School were hospitalized and 29 fell ill. Fire rescue officials said some children were already unconscious when they arrived due to nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
“She’s, like, shaking, shaking, and she’s in and out,” said mother Mary Antoine.
Fire rescue officials said no children were in life-threatening condition, yet they suffered various levels of sickness.
Related: 19 children hospitalized after 29 fall ill at Lauderhill preschool
After being transported to nearby hospitals via ambulance, some children were taken by their parents. “She’s been throwing up ever since she got to my house,” said parent Ruth Tibby.
Officials believe a school lunch catered to the daycare may be the culprit.
“The only common denominator that we can find right now is that the students all had the same catered lunch from an outside catering company,” said Lauderhill Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Jeff Levy.
One mother said her daughter ate one sandwich and some fruit.
Broward County officials confirmed their lunch on Monday was catered to the daycare by Healthy Children Catering, a company which also operates under the name Montoya Catering, in Hialeah.
“The food came from here, but we don’t know if they got sick because of the food,” said Javier Pena of Healthy Children Catering. “We feed a lot of kids in that area, and we’ve never had a problem.”
The daycare was voluntarily closed, Tuesday, as the Health Department investigates.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.