Mother Demands Answers After Toddler Hit with Shovel at Daycare
An outraged mother is urgently seeking answers after her young daughter was left with severe bruises and cuts following a distressing incident at a regional daycare centre. Claire Gaiter was informed by staff at Goodstart Early Learning in Echuca, Victoria, that her three-year-old daughter, Matilda, had been struck with a shovel on Wednesday morning.
When Ms Gaiter arrived to collect her child, she was horrified to discover visible injuries on Matilda's head, neck, back, and legs. The mother expressed profound shock and dismay, having trusted the facility as a secure environment for her daughter.
Details of the Disturbing Incident
According to centre staff, another child at the facility allegedly used the shovel to hit Matilda multiple times. Workers reported witnessing the toddler being struck in the head on three separate occasions while both children were playing in the sandpit area.
"They saw the child hit her in the head with a shovel three times. It was in the sandpit, and they couldn't get there fast enough," Ms Gaiter explained to 7News.
Compounding the tragedy, Matilda is non-verbal and unable to express pain, meaning she suffered silently throughout the ordeal. "I was just crying. It was horrific... She doesn't feel pain or doesn't know how to express pain, so she wouldn't have been able to do that," the devastated mother revealed.
Aftermath and Official Responses
Following the incident, Ms Gaiter immediately took her daughter to hospital where medical professionals diagnosed Matilda with a mild concussion resulting from the blows. The mother has since reported the matter to local police, and the Victorian government's Childhood Regulatory Authority is expected to launch a formal investigation.
Despite regulations requiring childcare centres to provide incident reports following such events, Goodstart Early Learning has yet to furnish Ms Gaiter with any documentation detailing what transpired. A spokesperson for the organisation stated they could not disclose specific details to "protect the privacy of the two children involved."
Ms Gaiter emphasised that this was not a simple accident but a prolonged, preventable tragedy. "It's not a freak accident. It's not something that happened quickly. It's just horrific," she asserted.
The absence of CCTV footage at the facility has further complicated the situation, leaving no visual record of the alleged assault. This case raises significant questions about supervision standards, safety protocols, and regulatory oversight in early childhood education settings across regional Victoria.
