DEL MAR, Calif. (KGTV) — Parents of a Del Mar elementary school student are taking legal action against the Del Mar Union School District after they say their daughter came home from school intoxicated.
The incident happened on April 1, 2022.
Kris and Shavon Lindley's daughter was seven years old and in the second grade at Del Mar Hills Academy at the time.
"Our nanny picked up our daughter from school and said she was crying uncontrollably. Her eyes were rolling back into her head," Shavon said.
They rushed her to the ER.
"They were this close to intubating her because her breathing had gotten so shallow," Shavon said.
The Lindleys said doctors ran numerous tests to figure out what was wrong.
The ethanol test came back showing the equivalence of a .23 blood alcohol level.
At first, the parents said they were relieved that it wasn't an underlying health condition.
"But, then after that, it's the question why did my daughter have a .23 [BAC] under the care of a school where you think it is safe dropping them off?" Kris said.
In a statement to ABC 10News, the school district said the student likely consumed hand sanitizer after an investigation.
According to America's Poison Centers, most hand sanitizers contain over 60% of ethyl alcohol, which is a stronger concentration than most hard liquors. The website stated even a small amount can poison a child.
"In general, children have lower tolerance because they aren't drinkers every day like some people are," said Dr. Richard Clark, the Director of Toxicology at UC San Diego.
Dr. Clark said a child drinking hand sanitizer is uncommon because of its bitter taste, but it can happen.
"One 40 milliliters or a shot worth of hand sanitizer in a child seven or eight years old could put them on a ventilator," Dr. Clark said.
So how was it possible for their daughter to ingest hand sanitizer?
Shavon believes her daughter's water bottle may have been tampered with.
"She went to lunch. She left her water bottle outside of the classroom where the water bottles are stored on a table outside with the backpacks and she ran back to go grab it and it started tasting like lemonade after lunch," Shavon said.
The school district didn't find evidence of the student's bottle being tampered with.
However, a teacher said, after the incident, they noticed the student lick her hands after receiving hand sanitizer.
"For us, what happened after that moment they saw her lick her hands, the perspective of the school shifted," Shavon said.
The parents said the school stopped being as responsive to their questions.
Legal claims filed by the Lindley's stated, "between January and March 2022, when [the student] returned from Del Mar Hills, the Lindleys noticed [the student] exhibiting several instances of dizziness and disorientation, causing her to bump into walls."
"Ms. Lindley was not sure what was happening, nor had any way of knowing the circumstances that would explain why [the student] was acting unusual until the date of the Incident," the documents stated.
The parents hope taking legal action will result in more information on what happened that day. They would also like the school district to take the incident more seriously.
"First and foremost educating the teachers and parents to be on the lookout for things like this so that way this doesn't happen again," Shavon said.
The school district stated it made sure the student no longer had access to hand sanitizer.
It's also not aware of any other student who's consumed hand sanitizer before.
Full statement from Del Mar Union School District:
"The safety of our students is always a top priority of the District. Through investigation, we found out one of our students likely consumed hand sanitizer. As a result, we took measures to make sure that student no longer had access to hand sanitizer at our school. We are not aware of any other student consuming hand sanitizer. In addition, the investigation and evidence does not support the conclusion that someone tampered with the student’s water bottle. The parents have hired legal counsel who is communicating with our legal counsel."
