This 2 y/o was brutally attacked in a gym creche by another child.

By SHAUNA ANDERSON

“It’s only for an hour”, you say to yourself, and your child squeals with delight when you leave her.

You assume she is safe, enjoying the brief playtime before you both get on with your day.

You assume that it will be just like every other day – a non-event.

Imagine if you had assumed wrong.

A two-year old girl has been left with extensive injuries after being attacked by a four-year old boy at a gym crèche.

Her mother was horrified to pick up her daughter – bleeding, bruised, battered and not wearing any pants – and has taken to social media to share her disturbing story.

Kristel Ness from Sydney’s Northern Beaches left her two-year-old daughter Eva at the crèche of the Virgin Active Health Club in Frenchs Forest 10.30am on Saturday.

Fifteen minutes into her workout, a club staff member contacted her and told her that her daughter had been bitten by a ‘baby ‘but that there was no need for her to check on her. Kristel halted her exercise immediately and went to see how Eva was.

Nothing could have prepared her for this.

Her daughter was screaming – and could not be consoled.

“When I arrived at the crèche she was so upset but wouldn’t come to me. When we got home she was still screaming, so I gave her some Panadol and let her sleep instead of taking her straight to the doctor, so she could calm down,” Kristel Ness told The Daily Mail.

“I then took her to the doctor and he couldn’t examine her properly, she was hiding in the corner. Normally she loves the doctor. She wears her own stethoscope and loves it.”

She says that little Eva was left with a black eye, bites, hematomas, and scratches on her head and face. Even now, days after the incident, Kristel says little Eva still gets teary when asked about the incident and says, “no, no, no”.

A dismayed Kristel demanded to know what had occurred but they told her they had not seen the attack.

“What is quite beyond belief is that not only could this occur while at a care facility, but that all staff claim they did not see the incident. How is that possible at any care facility which is meeting its duty of care?” Kristel’s husband Rob Ness told The Daily Mail.

Kristel told Seven News: “When I was asking the operations manager about her, about why her pants were missing, he said children just take off their clothes… and kind of brushed it off.”

The club confirmed that the incident took place in the soft play area, and that no staff member saw it take place.

The Manly Daily reports police have investigated the incident but will not be progressing the investigation further.

The mother of the four-year-old child thought to be responsible for the attack has written to Kristel that he has been punished. “His superhero costumes have been taken away and he has been made to do chores as punishment,” she said.

The club said that the boy had been banned from attending the creche.

But Kristel and her husband Rob want more action and are now calling for the crèche to be shut down.

“My personal opinion is the day care facilities at this particular club should be closed until a full investigation is done and the club procedures, staffing ratios and skill levels are properly assessed,” Rob told The Daily Mail.

He said that the Club’s manager had visited their home but that they were so unhappy with what he said they asked him to leave.

“We are still getting weird conflicting stories. We are so disappointed with how Virgin has responded,” Kristel Ness told The Daily Mail.

Other members have since taken to the club’s Facebook page to express their disgust at the brutal attack. One wrote: ”After seeing the photos of the injured child, this was obviously a prolonged attack. This child’s safety was certainly not given any great importance… I would not be sending my children back to this creche.”

The club has put out this statement regarding the attack.

‘We had a terrible incident occur between two young children at our Virgin Active Frenchs Forest club on the morning of Saturday 23 August.

A 2-year old girl and 4-year old boy were playing in our kids club, Club V, when an altercation between the pair resulted in the 2-year old girl suffering bruising to the face and bite marks on her face and back. Our staff were nearby, but the incident occurred outside of the relevant supervisor’s direct line of sight within our soft play structure area.

A full investigation is underway to assess exactly what took place, how it might have been prevented, and what can be done to help prevent a similar incident happening in the future. In the interim, the relevant area of the kids club has been closed, and the membership of the child who allegedly attacked the 2-year old girl has been suspended.

Virgin Active is extremely sorry that this incident has taken place and we have apologised unreservedly to the little girl and her family.

The parents have every reason to be furious that this incident occurred while their daughter was within the care of Virgin Active. We have offered the family any support we can provide at this time.

We want to reassure parents and members of the public that we treat the safety and wellbeing of the children in our care with the utmost importance.

Most importantly, we wish the young girl a speedy recovery.” Mark Blackman (Managing Director, Virgin Active Asia Pacific)

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