Cay Hill:--- A three year old girl identified as Shaniqua Gumbs is now a patient at the St. Maarten Medical Center as doctors at the institution are trying to determine exactly how the little girl was injured on September 8th 2011 at Barney's Play School on Back Street.Shinelka Gumbs, mother of the child told SMN News that on September 8th the teacher at the playschool told her child's father that the child had fallen off a chair while looking at television. The teacher she said also placed a note in the child's bag stating that she fell off a chair that day. Gumbs said when her daughter reached home she had a bump on her head next to her temple. The mother said the next morning she took her daughter to the doctor because when the child woke up that morning her eyes and face had also swollen. She said the doctor gave her eye drops and he also gave her a report to take to the Police Station. "Ever since September 8th my daughter face and eyes are swollen and now the pediatrician at the St. Maarten Medical Center admitted her to run more tests. Already, the doctors are saying that a vain broke in the child head and she suffered internal bleeding due to the blow she received." They also said that the internal bleeding stopped but the swelling is from the clotted blood that remains in her head.
Gumbs said she visited Barney Play School two days after the incident because the teacher at the school had placed a note in the child's bag stating that the child fell, while she also told the father. However, the mother said she wanted to know from where her child fell because they were no bruises or marks on the head or face. She said when she reached the school the teacher told her that the child fell off one of the small plastic chairs. Gumbs said it is impossible for her child to have such swelling if she had fallen from such a low chair. She further explained that her daughter had been attending Barney's for over two years and while the child had minor injuries before this one is the worst. She said she wanted the teachers to tell her exactly what happened to her daughter so the child could receive adequate treatment. "If another child hit her they should tell me because the teacher said she fell from the chair but she also told me she did not see my daughter fall down. She said the only thing she heard was when my daughter screamed and when she went to check on her she saw her on the ground." Gumbs said she already filed an official report with the police and law enforcement promised to get back to her.
Efforts made to reach the teachers of the playschool on Tuesday proved futile.