A Little Elm couple has filed a lawsuit against their son's daycare after a steel playground gate slammed on the 21-month-old's hand, partially amputating his right ring fingertip and exposing bone. The incident happened around 10:22 a.m. on November 5, 2025, while the toddler was playing outside at the facility, and his parents say the injury has left him with permanent damage, disrupted sleep, and a fear of gates and doors.
The lawsuit, filed in Denton County, names Fabulinus LLC, which does business as Kids 'R' Kids Learning Academy in Little Elm, along with its franchisor, Kids 'R' Kids International Inc., according to The Dallas Morning News. The suit, filed by parents Victor Akinsanmi and Oluwaseun “Mary” Ogunbameru, accuses the defendants of negligence, gross negligence and premises liability, and raises claims tied to employee hiring, training and supervision. The family is seeking more than $1 million in actual damages plus exemplary damages, and has requested a jury trial.
Parents Describe Rushing to Their Bleeding Son
According to the lawsuit, a daycare staff member caused the steel playground gate to close on the toddler's right ring finger, and the incident was captured on the facility's surveillance video. Ogunbameru arrived at the daycare after the injury, and the same report notes she and Akinsanmi spoke with teachers about what had happened to their son. Akinsanmi described the scene in stark terms: “I saw blood on his body, his hand, everything. I was just ready to take him to the emergency.”
The toddler was taken to a primary care doctor and then to an emergency room, per the outlet's reporting. A surgeon treated the boy by shaving down exposed bone and reconstructing tissue, but the missing portion of his fingertip was never recovered and could not be reattached. The nail on that finger was also removed in the injury, and the article notes the boy may experience phantom pain going forward.
A Toddler Who Now Avoids His Own Right Hand
Before the injury, the boy used his right hand frequently and fed himself, the family says. Since the incident, he has needed help with tasks he previously handled on his own and has shifted to relying more on his left hand. He was diagnosed with acute post-traumatic stress disorder in March 2026, according to the lawsuit, and now avoids gates and doors, resists having his hand touched, and dislikes doctors, Ogunbameru said.
“I wish they didn't try to downplay it. I wish they showed more empathy,” Ogunbameru said, describing the daycare's response to the injury. She also recalled being told, in her words, “They made it seem like, ‘Oh it was just an injury. Just take him to the hospital.’” Ogunbameru said she contacted state regulators about a week after the incident, and that officials told her they had not previously been notified.
State Reporting Rules and a Pattern Across North Texas
That delay is central to the family's gross negligence claim. Under Texas Health and Human Services Child Care Regulation rules, licensed centers must submit a Licensing Incident/Illness Report within 48 hours of any incident involving emergency medical care or a severe safety risk. The lawsuit alleges Texas Child Care Regulation cited the Little Elm facility for failing to report the incident in a timely manner. Statewide, Texas Child Care Regulation logged more than 11,000 incident-related citations in 2023, with roughly 42% tied to supervision breakdowns or delayed notifications, according to Brock Insurance Group.
The Little Elm case is not the only recent legal action targeting the North Texas franchise network. Hoodline previously reported that a Frisco family sued a Kids 'R' Kids location in March, alleging staff yanked, shoved and struck a 3-year-old and that management ignored state safety plans after the franchise racked up 14 safety violations in under a year, per a post from the Button Law Firm. In 2024, a former employee at a Kids 'R' Kids in Conroe was re-indicted on three counts of injury to a child after video captured rough handling of a child at that location.
Why Gates Pose Such a Sharp Risk to Toddlers
Medical research helps explain why the injury was so severe. Door-related injuries account for nearly 60% of traumatic finger amputations in children under 10, with toddlers age 2 and younger facing the highest amputation rate of any age group, according to research cited by FingerGuard USA. Separate clinical research found crush injuries make up 83.3% of childhood fingertip injuries, with the right hand affected nearly two-thirds of the time and the ring and middle fingers most commonly hurt — a pattern that matches the injury described in the Little Elm lawsuit.
Kids 'R' Kids International was founded in Georgia in 1985 by Pat and Janice Vinson and has since grown into a franchise system spanning more than 150 early learning academies across 14 states and international markets. The Little Elm location's own materials state that it participates in the state's Texas Rising Star and Texas School Ready quality programs and requires staff training in First Aid, CPR and injury prevention — commitments the family's lawsuit argues were not upheld on the day of the injury.
Family Says the Search for a New Daycare Has Been Hard
Ogunbameru said she had inspected playgrounds, gates and doors at potential daycares before enrolling her son, and the family has since found it difficult to choose another facility. Akinsanmi said the lawsuit is meant to prevent another family from experiencing similar harm. According to family attorneys, the defendants' attorneys have denied negligence in the case.
As of this morning, the daycare had not responded to a request for comment from The Dallas Morning News, according to the outlet's reporting. It remains unclear whether Texas Child Care Regulation has placed the Little Elm facility on a corrective safety plan or how Kids 'R' Kids International oversees safety compliance across its independent franchise operators. The lawsuit's claims have not been proven in court, and no trial date has been reported.
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