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A Texas family is suing the city of Arlington after their 3-year-old sondied from a brain-eating amoebathat he likely contracted after playing at a public splash pad.
County health officialstested the water at two locationsafter learning that Bakari was sick — his family’s home and the splash pad at Don Misenhimer Park. They determined that N. fowleri amoeba, the formal name for brain-eating amoeba, was present in the water at the splash pad and was the likely cause of his exposure.
“I believe that the evidence will 100% prove that the acts or omissions on the part of the city of Arlington were bright-line negligence,” the family’s attorney, Stephen Stewart, tells PEOPLE. “The state mandates that if you have a public amusement splash pad, such as the one at Don Misenhimer Park, you must test the water. You got to make sure that water at these public water amusements are safe for kids and toddlers to participate.”
The city of Arlington did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Arlington closed the Don Misenhimer splash pad after learning of theboy’s illnessand have since shut down all city splash pads through the end of the year “out of an abundance of caution.”
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The city admitted that they had not been properly maintaining the splash pads, and that the parks and recreation department staff did not always record or conduct the required daily water quality testing. The logs “did not always show how much disinfectant chemical was manually added to the splash pad’s water system,” the city said, and often lacked confirmation that they were correctly chlorinated.
“Regrettably, due to the city’s bright-line failures to test and properly chlorinate and treat that splash pad amusement water, this Naegleria fowleri amoeba was able to develop, which regrettably led to the primary amebic meningoencephalitis that ended up killing poor Bakari Williams, bless his heart,” Stewart tells PEOPLE.
He continued, “If there’s anybody on earth that’s innocent, it’s him and his mama.”
More than anything, Stewart said that Bakari’s parents, Kayla Mitchell and Tariq Williams, want to spread awareness about the deadliness of the N. fowleri amoeba and the risks that public water parks pose if they aren’t properly treated.
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“This brain-eating amoeba is real. Bakari Williams' parents can absolutely testify to that,” Stewart said. “It’s deadly. I know it doesn’t happen real often, and that’s a good thing. But when it does occur, it’s more often than not deadly in nature.”
In an interview with CBS Austin, Tariq described his young son as “a loving, energetic, passionate, sweet, beautiful, innocent boy.”
“He didn’t deserve to die in this manner,” he said.
Due to the city’s alleged negligence, Bakari’s family is seeking more than $1 million, according to Stewart.
Arlington Mayor Jim Ross has spoken with the family and apologized, according toFox 4.
“This is bad. Nothing is worse than the loss of a child,” Ross told the outlet. “But I was raised to own it.”
source: people.com
