America's Concerns

The Ball Pitt at Children's Restaurants

No More!! McDonalds, ChuckECheese, Discover Zone read on...
Some of you might not be parents, but you may have nieces, nephews, grandchildren or friends with children.. this will pertain to you too.

As I read the following, my heart sank. I urge each and every one of you to pass this on to as many people as you can. I cannot stress how important this is! This is very disturbing news. In addition to the following true story, I will also add that my own sons were playing in the ball pit at ChuckECheese one day. One son lost his watch, and was very upset. We dug and dug in those balls, trying to find the watch. Instead, we found vomit, food, feces, and other stuff I do not want to discuss.

I went to the manager and raised hell . Come to find out, the ball pit is only cleaned out once a month. I have doubts that it is even done that often.

My kids will never play in another ball pit. Now read this:

Hi, My name is Lauren Archer; my son is Kevin. On October 2, 2002 , I took my only son to McDonald's for his 3rd birthday.

After he finished lunch, I allowed him to play in the ball pit. When he started crying later, I asked him what was wrong. He pointed to his back and said, Mommy, it hurts. I looked, but couldn't find anything wrong with him at the time. I bathed him when we got home, and it was at that point that I found a welt on his left buttock. Upon investigation, it seemed as if there was a splinter under the welt. I made a doctor appointment for the next day to have it removed. In the meantime, he started vomiting and shaking. Then, his eyes rolled back in his head.

We immediately went to the emergency room! My only son died later that night. It turned out that the welt on his buttock was the tip of a hypodermic needle that had broken off in his skin. The autopsy revealed that Kevin had died from a heroine overdose. The next day, the police removed the balls from the ball pit and found rotten food, half-eaten candy, diapers, feces, the stench of urine, and several hypodermic needles.

Please forward this! To all loving mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Note: Some children have also gotten lice from ball pits. The number of breaths we take does not measure life, but by the moments that take our breath away.

SEND THIS TO ANYONE YOU KNOW WHO HAS SMALL CHILDREN, NIECES, NEPHEWS, OR GRANDCHILDREN!