CONCORD, N.C. — A 9-month-old girl is fighting in the hospital after she suffered third-degree burns at a day care in Concord, her family says.
Addison Starnes' family said she will require several surgeries in the coming weeks and a long road to recovery after an incident at the Concord Children's Academy on Feb. 28. A statement from the family's lawyer says that they believe the child was in a highchair when she was badly burned.
"We believe that Addison was in a highchair waiting to receive her bottle, when a bottle warmer was overturned, causing the water in the warmer to spill and severe burn Addison," the statement reads in part.
"It's just awful. No parent should have to go through that," Tiffany Phillips, a former employee and child care worker, said. "That's every parent's worst nightmare."
Starnes is covered with burns on her arm, chin, stomach, and leg. Phillips said this kind of thing should never happen.
“Having worked in child care before, taking care of infants, no infant or toddler should be anywhere that has cords that they can pull off of a counter or anywhere that's going to cause them harm,” Phillips said.
Addison was airlifted to the Wake Forest Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem. A family member shared on a GoFundMe page that 20% of her body is covered with mostly third-degree burns and said the child will need two surgeries.
Phillips said she wants the academy to take accountability for what happened to a baby who is too young to protect herself.
"I do feel like accidents happen," Phillips said. "Kids are going to be kids, they're going to fall, they're going to scrape their knee. But this ... this is not an accident. I feel like this is negligence."
The Cabarrus County Sheriff’s Office told WCNC Charlotte that “there is no indication anything about the injuries sustained was criminal.”
The academy shared this response on Facebook, saying in part:
"A precious member of our CCA family was burned with water from a bottle warmer. School administrators took swift action to report this event and institute key safety measures to prevent any reoccurrence. We are fully committed to the health and safety of our students and ensuring this cannot happen again."
Contact Jesse Pierre at jpierrepet@wcnc.com or follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.