Parents say son suffered severe burns during Las Vegas-area high school football practice

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The parents of a student at a Las Vegas area high school told NeswNation affiliate KLAS that they are upset with the principal and coach after their son reportedly suffered severe burns on his hands.

Spring Valley High School parents, who requested anonymity, sent KLAS three photos showing their son’s heat-related injuries.

The parents told KLAS their 16-year-old son came home on Monday with his hands wrapped in bandages. The parents then took him to urgent care where he was diagnosed with friction burns to treat the burns, according to documents the parents shared.

The parents also told 8 News Now that their son and some members of the varsity football team were ordered to crawl on artificial turf as punishment for not wearing their kneepads properly.

It reportedly happened around 3 p.m., which is considered peak afternoon heat.

“I’d be livid, you know? I’d want answers,” Miguel Ocegueda, whose daughter attends Spring Valley High School, said on Tuesday. “I hope the kids are all right but whatever they did, didn’t demand for them to go through that, and get hurt.”

Frederick Sarno was parked outside Spring Valley High, waiting to pick up his granddaughter.

“I think it’s ridiculous. Kids are playing sports, they’re not getting in trouble. If it was my grandson, I’d really be mad,” Sarno said.

Medical experts 8 News Now previously interviewed, had recommended that outdoor sports activities for children be scheduled outside of the hours of noon and 5 pm.

“We see a large amount of pavement burns at UMC,” Dr. David Obert, an emergency physician at UMC, said. “They fall. They spend a short period of time on the ground and they can develop third-degree burns on their extremities, arms chest, back.”

Tara Powell, the principal of Spring Valley High School, sent an email to parents on Tuesday regarding the incident. Her full response is provided below.

“ This is Tara Powell, Principal at Spring Valley High School. As always, we want to inform you of important matters happening in our school community.

We are aware of reports concerning activities at a recent football practice. While we cannot discuss individual personnel matters due to privacy law, we do take all allegations seriously and the District is working to ensure that policies and procedures are followed with any investigation, and the parties involved have been contacted.

Due to a lack of staffing, all football practices are canceled for today, Tuesday, August 13, 2024. We understand how important athletics are to our student-athletes and will provide updates as to when practice can resume. Thank you for your patience and understanding. “

Spring Valley High School is located in the Spring Valley community in unincorporated Clark County in the 3700 block of South Buffalo Drive in Las Vegas.

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