A 7-year-old girl is doing much better, home from school just one day after a medicine mix-up by a school nurse at JFK Elementary School in Blackstone left the second grader feeling groggy and her parents scared.
"I scraped my elbow and it was bruised, so I went to the nurse," said Madison Young. "She said 'Hi, Ava,' but I said 'my name isn't Ava, it's Madison,' but she still proceeded to give me the medicine."
As necn first reported Tuesday night, Young was accidentally given another child's Ritalin prescription instead of the Motrin she thought she was getting for her bruised elbow.
She says the school nurse noticed the mistake shortly after she had taken the Ritalin.
"She said 'Oh dang it,' like that, and she said she gave me the wrong medicine," Young said.
Young's parents said they didn't understand why basic protocols, like asking for Madison's name, weren't followed.
"I just want to know why that wasn't done beforehand and what they're doing and what other schools are doing to make sure their medications are safe," said her father, Cole Young.
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Blackstone-Millville Regional Schools Superintendent Allen Himmelberger released a statement reading, in part, "The nurse immediately called poison control, notified the principals and then called the parents. Thankfully, the student is fine. I met with all parties today to discuss our protocols and procedures and reviewed them so that this mistake never happens again."
"I don't want to see something bad happen or another kid have an allergic reaction," Madison's mom, Kelly Russell, said. "We got lucky, and I just want the other parents in the school to know that it could have been worse, and thank God it's not."
