A distraught mum told how her two-year-old son crossed a road alone after escaping from nursery.
Shannan Lees lived every parent's nightmare last Friday (September 16) when she received a phone call telling her that her son, Harvey, had been found all alone in the road. The toddler had been picked up by a concerned woman who spotted him standing by himself.
The kind stranger got out of her car and called police before taking the little boy to a nearby nursery - Sky High Achievers The Bungalow. Harvey actually attends that nursery but had somehow escaped and crossed a road alone, reports the Manchester Evening News.
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Shannan, from Denton in Greater Manchester, has now removed her son from the nursery and has said he 'could've ended up dead' had the passer-by not intervened. The 24-year-old said she initially decided the nursery would be a good fit for her young son after it was highly recommended by a friend.
Since the incident, which happened just metres away from the nursery, she has found it difficult to find another space for him elsewhere, as many nurseries have waiting lists. She also said she will 'struggle to leave her son with anyone else' after the ordeal.
Sky High Achievers The Bungalow said through its investigations, it was discovered the toddler had been 'missing for less than a minute', but that it was working with Ofsted and the local authorities as they continue looking into what happened.
Shannan said: "I just want to make people aware of what happened. I just can't believe it. I got called after half four last Friday, telling me he had escaped from the nursery and had been found by someone.
"I was shouting down the phone, I was just in shock. I rushed down and the woman who stopped and ran after Harvey was also there waiting. My partner got CCTV from a neighbour and you can see Harvey following a man who crosses the road before him. Then he goes to cross the road himself and continues to walk along the pavement up Quebec Street, which leads to a busy main road."
She added: "It is so scary to think what could've happened to him. He could've been hit by a car or could've ended up dead. I don't like to think about it.
"You trust the life of your child with responsible adults and now I worry about doing that again. I think I would struggle now to leave him with someone else again after this.
"It is important people are made aware that things like this can happen. I wouldn't want any other parent going through this as the outcome could be a lot worse. It is awful to think about it."
Ofsted has confirmed it has been made aware of an incident and is awaiting further information from the relevant authorities so could not comment further. In a response to the Manchester Evening News , the nursery said the incident had 'never happened before' and that since the incident it has taken 'immediate measures to improve security' such as fitting CCTV cameras and new locks and cameras on gates.
A spokesperson from the nursery said: "This was an unfortunate incident, which has never happened before. Thankfully, on this occasion the child came to no harm, and we believe from our investigation he was missing for less than a minute. We offer our sincere apologies to his family and have reached out to them to check on all of them as this has understandably caused them some concern.
"We take the safety and security of all the children in our care extremely seriously and immediately contacted Ofsted and the local authority when this happened in line with our safeguarding protocols. We are continuing to work with both Ofsted and the local authority on our investigations.
"We have also taken immediate measures to improve security across the whole of the nursery which includes fitting CCTV coverage of the playground and internal rooms and fitting new locks and cameras on the gates. As part of the Ofsted investigation, we shall be reviewing our systems and protocols to ensure that our security is as good as it can be in future.”
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