Child at YWCA Camp Left on Hot Lubbock Playground

A child was out in 100 degree temperatures for around an hour today after he was left at a playground by a YWCA employee.

The employee had taken a group of children attending the organization's Sun N' Fun camp to the park across from Parsons Elementary. The six-year-old boy’s absence wasn’t noticed until his mother came to the YWCA to pick up him up. "I thought he had walked out or wandered off somewhere. But that wasn't the case, he was forgotten at a playground," the mother, who chose to remain anonymous, told KAMC 28 News.

Searchers feared the worst; however the boy was found sleeping on playground equipment and was not injured. The mother says that he was dripping with sweat and EMS treated him for dehydration.

YWCA Director Glenda Mathis says the organization takes full responsibility for the incident. She explained that head counts are mandatory and that even though this is the first case of a child missing under her direction; it doesn’t make the error any less dire.

The employee responsible for the incident was fired.