BOURNE, MASS. (WHDH) - BOURNE, MASS. (WHDH) – Parents want answers after a toddler lost a toe earlier this week while playing at a newly opened playground on Cape Cod.
A 2-year-old girl was on her way down a slide at a splash pad at Buzzards Bay Park Tuesday when she suffered the serious injury, according to the Bourne Police Department.
The park, which has since been roped off with caution tape, will remain closed until further notice after investigators found a crack at the bottom of the slide.
Cellphone video from the scene showed paramedics scrambling to assist the toddler as many frantic parkgoers looked on.
“I heard the toddler crying. My heart dropped,” Lindsey Simmons said. “I didn’t know what was going on.”
Moments later, Simmons said she watched as first responders took the slide apart and searched for the girl’s toe.
“I feel guilty because I saw the crack,” she said. “I didn’t think anything like that was going to happen.”
Some parents tell 7News that they saw caution tape on the slide a few days prior to the accident and that it was apparently removed.
“I noticed the tape kind of dangling in the wind so I went over to look at it,” Lisa Lee said. “It wasn’t just a crack. It was a cracked opening, like a hole.”
Others say the playground is just not safe for children.
“As a parent, I can’t understand how rocks and water are safe,” Josephine Bevilacqua said.
Even though the opening of the park had to be pushed back due to the cold spring weather, it did pass inspection, town officials said.
“We’re assessing what happened,” Bourne Town Administrator Thomas Guerino said. “I’m getting all the reports from the police, the fire, the DPW and the engineers on the plan, as well as the people who did the installation.”
Many are wondering how the slide could have a crack in it if the park only opened two months ago.
“They should have done something about it, but they didn’t,” Simmons said.
The toddler is recovering at a hospital in Providence.
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