The parents of a 21-month-old boy say their son’s injury at Kids R Kids changed how he eats, sleeps and responds to doctors
By: Maria Salette Ontiveros, Staff Writer
When Oluwaseun “Mary” Ogunbameru arrived at her son’s Little Elm daycare last November after getting a call that he had been hurt, the 21 month-old had already cried himself to sleep.
His right hand was wrapped, and she said she did not yet understand how serious the injury was.
“They made it seem like, ‘Oh it was just an injury. Just take him to the hospital.’” Ogunbameru said.
It was not until the bandage was removed at a doctor’s office that she and her husband, Victor Akinsanmi, saw that the tip of their son’s right ring finger had been partially amputated.
Now, the North Texas parents are suing the daycare, saying an injury that happened in seconds has changed their son’s life.
The lawsuit, filed in Denton County, names Fabulinus LLC, which does business as Kids R Kids Learning Academy in Little Elm, and Kids R Kids International Inc., the company’s franchisor. The lawsuit accuses the defendants of negligence and gross negligence and includes claims related to premises liability, employee hiring, training and supervision. The family is seeking more than $1 million in actual damages, along with exemplary damages, and the plaintiffs have requested a jury trial.
The Dallas Morning News reached out to the daycare by email and phone for comment but had not received a response as of Friday morning. Attorneys for the defendants have denied negligence, according to the family’s attorneys.
According to the lawsuit, the toddler was playing outside at the daycare on Nov. 5, 2025, when a staff member caused a steel playground gate to close on his right ring finger at about 10:22 a.m. The incident was captured on surveillance video, the filing says.
The injury partially amputated the fingertip, removed his fingernail and exposed bone, according to the lawsuit.
Akinsanmi said his first concern when he arrived at the daycare was getting his son medical attention.
“I saw blood on his body, his hand, everything,” he said. “I was just ready to take him to the emergency.”
The family went to their son’s primary care doctor before being directed to an emergency room, his parents said. A surgeon later shaved down the exposed bone and reconstructed tissue around the fingertip because the missing portion of the finger had not been recovered and could not be reattached, they said.
His mother said before the injury, her son had been feeding himself and frequently using his right hand. Afterward, she said, he began relying more on his left hand and needed help with tasks he previously did himself.
His behavior around medical care also changed, she said.
“He hates going to the doctor’s office now,” Ogunbameru said. “It’s hard for me to cut his nails because he doesn’t trust anything that has to do with you touching his hand.”
She said that when someone asks about his hand, her son often immediately shows them his injured finger. The family also noticed changes in his sleep, particularly in the months after the injury.
“When he wakes up in the middle of the night, he’s going to show you that finger,” Akinsanmi said. “We just have to stay awake until he’s able to go back to sleep.”
The lawsuit says the toddler has permanent damage to the finger and was diagnosed in March with acute post-traumatic stress disorder related to the injury. It also describes disrupted sleep, avoidance of gates and doors, favoring his left hand and reports of possible phantom pain.
For his parents, the effects have extended beyond their son’s medical treatment.
Ogunbameru said finding another daycare became difficult because she no longer felt comfortable trusting that a facility was safe. When visiting potential daycares, she inspected playgrounds, gates and doors and spoke with teachers about her son’s injury.
“It was scary to try to find another daycare and have to trust somebody else,” she said.
Ogunbameru said she was also disappointed by the response she said she received from the Little Elm daycare after the injury.
“I wish they didn’t try to downplay it,” she said. “I wish they showed more empathy.”
The family’s attorneys also pointed to a finding by Texas Child Care Regulation. According to the lawsuit, the agency cited the Little Elm facility for failing to timely report this incident.
Ogunbameru said she contacted state regulators herself about a week after the incident and was told they had not previously been notified of it.
Akinsanmi said the lawsuit is also about preventing another family from experiencing the same thing.
“We don’t want parents to have to go through the stress we went through during the surgery and after the surgery,” he said. “This is not something we can just sweep under the carpet.”
For Ogunbameru, there is also the knowledge that her son will someday be old enough to understand that his hand is different.
“He’s still going to grow up one day and be like, ‘Mom, what happened to my hand?’” she said. “And it’s something I’m always going to have to explain.”
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Maria Salette Ontiveros has worked in the TV industry with KFOX and CBS in El Paso, Texas area.
