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Bradenton boy, 7, suffers heat exhaustion as camp staff left him on a playground

A county spokesperson said a camp staff member miscounted the children before everyone came back inside.
Credit: WWSB
Carter was left outside on the playground during summer camp, his mom says.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- A young boy is beginning to feel better in the days after camp staff left him behind on a playground, WWSB-TV reports.

Amica Collins and her son went to the playground area at G.T. Bray Recreation Center when they noticed a boy appearing to sleep. Collins said the 7-year-old boy, named Carter, got up and "was really disorientated."

After reciting his mother's phone number to Collins, she gave her a call and was on her way.

"I work right down the road," Kelly Fraser, Carter's mother, told WWSB. "I literally went 100 mph on 59th Street to get here."

Upon getting home, Carter began throwing up. Fraser took him to an area hospital where doctors said he was severely dehydrated and had suffered from heat exhaustion.

Manatee County runs the camp, and spokesman Nick Azzara spoke on behalf of its director to WWSB: "It was a very rare and isolated incident that I believe they've taken the corrective actions to make sure it won't happen again."

Carter told his mom the counselors were getting lazy as it was summer camp was wrapping up, and Azzara said one of the teenage staff members miscounted the children before everyone went inside from the playground.

"Moving forward they're going to do a roll call when they leave the playground or go back inside to make sure each child is accounted for," Azzarra told WWSB.

It is not yet known where there will be any disciplinary action.

According to the Mayo Clinic, first aid for heat exhaustion immediately should be administrated if someone shows signs of faintness, dizziness, fatigue and a weak but rapid pulse.

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