Donations sought after 3-month-old dies at child care center
It's a parent's worst nightmare…
You drop your baby off at day care for the very first time and you find out your child is dead.
That's no longer a nightmare for one New York City couple, but reality.
Brooklyn's Amber Scorah and Lee Towndrow dropped their 3-month-old son, Karl, off at the Soho Day Care Center on Monday.
Hours later, the owner of SoHo Child Care, Maryann Strautmanis, found Karl unresponsive with blue lips, after being put down for a nap. He was rushed to Lenox Hill Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Investigators are continuing to look into the cause of death. Meanwhile, the facility is coming under scrutiny for operating without a license for more than a decade.
New York is home to the strictest child care regulations in the nation.
Across the state, any day care program planning to serve three or more children for more than three hours a day on a regular basis must obtain a license or registration certificate, and obtaining that license isn’t easy.
Reportedly the owner of the Soho day care attempted CPR but was improperly trained, solely relying on the dispatchers from 9-1-1.
“It is pretty significant if someone is caring for a significant group of children and no one there has CPR training, that’s one of the requirements, is that you have to have CPR training," Nancy Kolbern from the Center for Children’s initiatives, said
Now, another question being raised is whether the child suffered from sudden Infant death syndrome. The New York Post quoted a source saying this kind of death could have happened anywhere.
Karl's family is asking for privacy at this time. But, that's not stopping the community from helping.
A fundraising page is set up to raise money for medical and funeral expenses. To donate, visit gofundme.com/karltowndrow.