Page 4 - Florida Sentinel 5-22-18

Local
Deaf Child Locked In Bathroom At Park ‘Traumatized’
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
Earlier this month, the Sentinel published an arti- cle about 13-year-old Stacy Peterson. That article dis- cussed his overcoming deaf- ness to excel in school.
However, on Mother’s Day, May 13th, Stacy en- dured an incident that his grandmother says has left him traumatized.
According to his grand- mother, Ms. Elizabeth Randolph, their family went to MacFarland Park on Mother’s Day. Ms. Ran- dolph said Stacy went to the bathroom around 5 p.m., and couldn’t get out.
“The door malfunctioned and wouldn’t open. The lights went out and he was stuck. He was kicking and screaming because he was so scared.”
She further stated that when she called 9-1-1, they were told it would be about 2 hours before an officer
STACY PETERSON
have happened. What if it had been a smaller child caught in there,” she said.
To make bad matters worse, Ms. Randolph said Stacy’s batteries in his hear- ing aids died during the or- deal and he couldn’t hear his mother talking to him on the other side of the door.
“I told him that from now on, he’ll have to carry extra batteries in his pocket. But he said it was so dark in there he wouldn’t have been able to put them in because he couldn’t see anything.”
Ms. Randolph said Stacy’s mother, Ms. Ar- sund Randolph, recorded the incident and posted it on the Internet.
“A man named Paul Dial saw it on Facebook and reached out to my daughter. He said he was with the City of Tampa Parks & Recre- ation Department and that he would see what happened and get back in touch with us. He’s been communicat- ing with my daughter,” Ms. Randolph said.
Ms. Randolph says Stacy was deeply affected by the ordeal. The following day, he woke up and he was still afraid. She hopes the ex- perience does not have a long term effect on him.
Paul Dial, Director of the City of Tampa Parks & Recreation Department said, “We take this very seriously and we don’t want that to happen to anyone else. I was
over there the next day and we have taken it off the elec- tronic locking system and placed it on manual use so no one can get locked in.
“If we do put it back on the electronic system, the person will only have to push it to get out.”
He further said that he spoke with the family again and made them aware of the changes.
He said the problem was the person had to push a but- ton to get out and that the sign was very confusing so he had it removed.
It was the only bathroom at the park operating on that system.
Stacy was born deaf. He underwent surgery when he was 4-years-old to have the first Cochlear implant placed in his ear. He had the second surgery at the age of 9 and both were successful.
He still uses sign lan- guage at Brandon Seventh Day Adventist Church, where he interprets the songs into sign language. He also enjoys reading, writing, singing, and playing the gui- tar. But, his grandmother said she makes him commu- nicate by speaking at home.
Stacy has made the high honor roll for the last three grading periods at Burnett Middle School, where he is a 7th grade student. He was also recently inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.
would arrive. Ms. Ran- dolph said they came about 30 minutes later. She said the 9-1-1 operator never sent the fire department.
“When the officers came they stood around and asked
us what we wanted them to do? Finally, someone called the park supervisor and someone came in about 5 minutes. They had to turn the power off to get him out of there. This should never
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