Surveillance Video Of Horrifying Cedarville Elementary Playground Accident Released Following Court Order

A 7-year-old boy was left in intensive care with a fractured skull and brain swelling after an accident on the Cedarville Elementary School playground in Arkansas. Following the horrifying accident, the parents requested the surveillance video of the incident as doctor’s said they couldn’t properly treat the child until they knew exactly what happened. However, Cedarville Schools refused the request noting privacy concerns as other children were present in the video. The parents filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit and the school was forced to release the horrifying footage, which has many questioning why the playground was even open.

KFSM reports that 7-year-old Zach Moore suffered a traumatic brain injury following an accident on the Cedarville Elementary playground during an after school football game. The boy was found by another parent trapped underneath a bench; however, no adults were present when the accident took place leaving many to wonder exactly what happened to the child to sustain such severe injuries. Zach’s parents, Brooke and Josh Moore, requested video surveillance footage of the accident at the request of the doctors. The Moores claim that doctors wanted the footage so that they could see exactly what happened to their son for treatment reasons. Despite the doctor’ pleas, Cedarville School District refused the request noting privacy concerns of the other students.

The Moores were adamant that they just wanted the best treatment for their son and didn’t blame the school for the accident, as it was after hours. The family filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the school and the video was released today. The family says they will not watch the footage as they don’t want to relive the horrifying day, but that their lawyers and doctors will watch the video to provide an accurate recount of the accident which left their child in the intensive care unit.

Out of respect for the family we did not post the full video on this website as they have stated numerous times they do not wish to be exposed to the video. However, a portion of the video can be seen above.The full video can be viewed here.

In the video, Zach Moore is playing on the playground with other children. He then grabs a bench that was leaning against a fence. The bench, which was scheduled to be installed in the ground at a later date, toppled onto the child. Children can be seen running to the boy’s aide while others run out of the frame to fetch their parents. About 20 minutes later, an ambulance arrives and takes the child away on a stretcher. It was noted that the bench weighed approximately 60 to 70 pounds and was completely unsecured at the time of the accident. The Moore family says they are just happy to finally know the truth and that they can now focus their time on Zach’s recovery and future.

“Our lawyer, Chad Atwell, reviewed the video and explained to us what happened. We are relieved to finally know the truth about what happened the night of [Zach’s] accident. We no longer have to play out different scenarios in our heads about what may or may not have happened. We can finally move past that and focus on the future.”

The video has left some wondering exactly why the large bench was left in such a dangerous position. Others question why the school would allow a playground with such a hazard to remain open. Despite the accident, the school is maintaining that they are not at fault and that the construction company was responsible for ensuring the uninstalled equipment was not a danger to children.

What do you think? Did the school, as they claim, have no responsibility to ensure the safety of the equipment? Could the obvious danger in the video be one of the reasons the school was hesitant to release the footage despite pleas from doctors?

[Image Credit: KNWA Surveillance Footage]