3-Year-Old Girl, Allegedly Shoved by Another Child at Daycare, Leaving Her with Bruises and Bite Marks. ‘Horrible,’ says Mother

YOU NEED TO KNOW

• A mother is speaking out after her 3-year-old daughter was allegedly hit with a shovel by another child at an Australian daycare center

• The child was covered in bruises and bite marks and suffered a mild concussion, her mother says

• “It’s not a freak accident,” said the concerned mother

A mother is sharing her devastation after she says her 3-year-old daughter was hit by another child at a daycare center in southeast Australia, leaving the little girl with a mild concussion.

“I was just crying. It was horrible,” Claire Gaiter told 7NEWS Australia about the injuries she claims her daughter, Matilda, suffered at Goodstart Early Learning in Echuca, Victoria, on Wednesday 4 February.

That day, the mother said she got a call from the center that her child had been hit with a shovel, according to the outlet. When she arrived, Gaiter learned her daughter was believed to have been hit by another 3-year-old boy, she says.

“They saw the kid hit her in the head with a shovel three times. It was in the sand, and they couldn’t get there fast enough,” Gaiter told 7NEWS. “It’s not a freak accident. It’s not something that happened quickly. It’s just horrible.”

What made the situation even more difficult to process was that little Matilda could not cry for help. In a social media post about the alleged incident shared Wednesday, Gaiter wrote that her son is “non-verbal and can’t tell me what happened.”

“The educators don’t seem to know much or the full story about what happened,” the mother claimed.

Gaiter and Goodstart Early Learning did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment.

Photos shared by Gaiter appear to show Matilda with bruises on her back, neck and side of her head. The mother told 7NEWS that the little girl also suffered bruises on her legs and had bite marks on her body.

After picking up Matilda, Gaiter took her 3-year-old son to the hospital, where she says she learned the boy had a mild concussion, according to 7NEWS. The woman claims that she is still waiting for an incident report which she is supposed to receive from the childcare centre.

In a statement to 7NEWS, Goodstart Early Learning declined to share details about the incident out of respect for the privacy of the two children involved.

The organization said that, at the time of the episode, “the center was staffed in accordance with regulatory requirements, and the additional educator brought in to support children with additional needs was due to start their shift shortly.”

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Meanwhile, Gaiter told the outlet that she has filed a police report to help prevent future incidents. The local Childhood Regulatory Authority is also reportedly expected to investigate.

“You wonder what another child sees at home to think this is good!” the mother wrote on Facebook. “We are heartbroken.”

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