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Fifth-grader impaled by lunchroom seating

BIRMINGHAM, AL (WCMH) – A fifth-grader in Alabama went to the hospital following a lunchtime accident that her mother says was completely avoidable.

Stacy Minnifield received a call from the school’s nurse at lunchtime. The nurse told her that her daughter had an accident at lunch. Minnifield’s daughter was impaled by metal pole in the lunchroom. The pole was exposed because the plastic seat that should have been there was missing.

“She let me know that they got into the lunchroom, she got a tray, she got ready to sit down and didn’t notice that it didn’t have a barstool there,” Minnifield said. “She plopped down, immediately felt the pole, and that’s when she started to hurt.”

Minnifield went to the school, where she found her daughter hurt  and bleeding, with torn pants. She then took the 10-year-old to the hospital.

“We discovered it was both rectal and towards that front area/private area,” Minnifield said.

The fifth-grader should make a full recovery, but it might take a while. She rated her pain a 9 on a 10-point scale. The student’s pain isn’t all physical either.

“She’s hurt and it’s embarrassment as well,” said Minnifield. “For this to happen in the lunchroom as well, in front of teachers, the whole fifth-grade class, along with other classes well…it’s just a total embarrassment as well.”

The Birmingham City School Superintendent’s office released a statement but did not say why the plastic seat was missing in the first place:

As a result of this unfortunate incident at Hudson K-8, all cafeterias have been surveyed and all student seating is up to standards.”