Mum offered $7 after care staff lose son
A mother who was offered a $7 discount as a result of after school care staff losing her five-year-old son, is outraged with the organisation's handling of the situation.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, says her son crossed nine roads before being found two kilometres from Worongary State School on the Gold Coast hinterland.
A woman luckily located the boy, before picking him up and contacting police. The extremely relieved mother was then notified her son had been found.
"My first thought was, 'How do you not know if a kid has gone to the toilet?'," the boy's mum said.
"There was no one in the toilet. (The worker) said, 'I don't understand he was here five minutes ago'.
"I was starting to feel nauseous at the thought of him being out there on his own. I was crying and vomited a couple of times through the search.
"My younger son was watching his mother in tears, physically ill, not understanding what was happening or where his brother was."
Helping Hands operation manager Libby Kerry said staff responsible for losing the boy had been disciplined.
"The regulatory authority has also conducted its own investigation and Helping Hands is working with them on finalising this," she said.
"We understand the very real concern of the parents involved and are working hard to ensure this incident is not repeated."
