A four-year-old girl in Alabama spent two days in intensive care after allegedly getting drunk at school.
The child was “slobbering at the mouth” and limp when her parents arrived to pick her up, with a blood alcohol content of 0.29, more than four times the legal limit for adults to drive.
Mary Singleton, the girl’s mother, stated that the school had called them just two minutes before students were dismissed for the day. Soon after, she discovered her daughter in the nurse’s office, nearly unresponsive.
“She was slobbering at the mouth, she was heavy, and the teacher handed her to me, saying we probably needed to take her to the ER,” Singleton told the television station WALA.
The child was taken to Children’s and Women’s Hospital in Mobile and spent two days in the intensive care unit (ICU). Doctors said she had consumed a significant amount of ethanol, also known as ethyl alcohol.
A toxicology report shared with WALA confirmed this, but it is unclear how the child obtained the substance.
Most adult drivers in Alabama must have a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% or lower.
According to the Chemical Safety Facts Organization, ethanol is present in a wide range of products, including skin care products, hand sanitizers, food packaging systems, perfume, and others.
The Singletons stated that their daughter was discharged from the hospital on Wednesday, but they want to know how the situation occurred.
A police investigation has begun.
“It’s difficult to deal with when you see your child walking into school and being carried out, and you have no idea what’s going on,” the girl’s father, Albert Singleton, explained.
The Independent contacted the Prichard Police Department. Mobile County Public Schools did not respond to WALA’s request for comments.
Experts recommend that adults keep ethanol products out of reach of young children. The Child Advocacy Center told the outlet that it has seen similar cases before.
