WASHINGTON COUNTY, Missouri — A one-year-old boy died on Thursday after he fell through the opening of an indoor play slide in Missouri.
The call came late Thursday morning in Washington County to a boy not breathing at a home daycare center.
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Sheriff Scott Reed with the Washington County Police Department stated that the boy had fallen through the opening of the slide and his head had become stuck.
“It was just two or three steps up to a little platform, and then the slide went off the side. On the side of the slide, there were railings,” said Reed.
At the bottom, there was an opening of about five inches tall and was big enough for a child to slip through, but not big enough for his head to fit through, said Reed.
The home daycare where the incident happened was not licensed, according to Reed, but it was operating legally because there were only four children in the owner’s care.
Reed said the death of the boy hit his department extremely hard, especially the first two deputies who arrived on the scene.
“Both of my deputies are young deputies who have young children. In fact, one of them has a newborn at home,” said Reed.
Reed said it was especially hard on the deputy to perform CPR on a child while having a young child at home.
The child’s death has been ruled accidental by the sheriff’s office.
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