SUNRISE, FLA. (WSVN) - A summer camp is under fire after some camp counselors left a child behind at a Sunrise trampoline park.
Five-year-old Walford Jeannitton Jr. was playing at Rebounderz in Sunrise, Friday, as part of a field trip with the Sanuces Ryu Broward summer camp in Lauderhill.
However, Walford said while he was at the facility, he got left behind.
“I look on dodge ball, and I look on the training set with the balls and the cages … I look everywhere for them,” Walford said. “I went to the bathroom, and then they left me.”
Walford was left wandering around the facility by himself until he told staff members.
“All the staff was there with him, so he felt really safe, really comfortable,” said Sebastien Vorbe, the owner of Rebounderz.
Staff members were eventually able to get in contact with Walford’s parents through participation waivers left by the camp.
“To hear that they forgot him on a field trip, it just broke my heart,” said Stephanie Jeannitton, Walford’s mother. “Basically they were saying, ‘No, he’s right here with us,’ and I said, ‘OK, so put him on the phone,’ and they couldn’t put him on the phone. Meanwhile, I was on the other line with Rebounderz, and they are able to allow me to talk to my son.”
Shane Walters, the co-owner of the summer camp, said camp leaders usually do head counts when the students go on field trips, but this time something went wrong.
“It was a situation where the child went to the bathroom without permission after the count was done,” Walters said. “Like I said, it was a little bit of a communication issue, but it wasn’t a problem.”
However, Walford’s mother disagrees and has removed her son from the program.
“In the world we live in now, there’s no room for that kind of mistake,” she said. “I just want to let the other parents know.”
Walters said the Department of Children and Families made a visit to the facility Tuesday morning and spoke to the staff about the importance of watching other people’s children.
Walters also added that in the camp’s 14 years of operation, this has never happened.
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