DETROIT – Dozens of nurses and doctors took to time out to spread awareness about child abuse at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in a unique way.
One person also spreading awareness was the mother of a child whose abuse resulted in Wyatt’s Law here in Michigan, which makes it easier for parents and caretakers to get information on people to ultimately protect children.
Read: New Michigan law expands access to child abuse registry
There are hundreds of blue sparkling pinwheels placed in front of Children’s Hospital of Michigan.
“Once a year we come together and plant pinwheels. And pinwheels are the National sign of a healthy happy, carefree childhood that every child deserves,” said Melanie Richards, with Kids-TALK Children’s Advocacy Center.
Richards said it’s all being done in the name of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month.
“We want to let the community know that we need everybody to rally around children,” Richards said. “Children shouldn’t have to protect themselves.”
The mother behind Michigan’s Wyatt Law, Erica McLaughlin spoke about why it’s so important. In 2013, her son was critically injured by her ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend. Wyatt suffered permanent brain damage at the hands of his father’s girlfriend, who’d been convicted of child abuse before.
“My son Wyatt was rushed here to Children’s Hospital with non-accidental head trauma, also known as shaken baby syndrome,” McLaughlin recalled. “His injuries were life-threatening. There’s no doubt in my mind that Children’s Hospital here saved his life.”
According to the CDC, at least 1 in 7 children have been abused this last year and 1,750 children died of abuse or neglect in 2020.
“What we see tends to be the physical and sexual type abuse in the emergency department, but the reason why this is important today is because recognition is important,” said Dr. Curt Stankovic.
The pinwheels outside of Children’s Hospital of Michigan will remain for the entire month of April.