Investigation Into Aldrich Viju’s Death In Childcare: Heartbreaking Details Revealed

Child care teacher Jiae Kwon had just finished playing with a group of children when a girl came up and said that one of the children “was sleeping and not waking up.”

That child was Aldrich Viju, 4, who died at Angels Childcare Center after being strangled by a cord from a pair of toy stilts he was playing with in November 2016.

Heartbreaking details about the tragedy were revealed today during an investigation into the death of the preschooler at the Auckland District Court.

Staff described how the boy’s father dropped him off at the center on Anzac St, Takapuna on a Friday afternoon around 1pm.

“When the [Aldrich] He arrived that afternoon, he ran in. She usually stays with her dad but she saw her friend and she was very excited, ”said one teacher who cannot be named.

He said the last time he saw Aldrich he was holding his friend’s hand while standing in a yellow box outside.

“He was laughing in the box,” she recalled, fighting back tears.

A former school teacher, Jiae Kwon, said she was playing a game with a group of children outside at the time, where they were competing with each other around the play area.

Shortly after the game was over, a girl came up to him and explained that “Aldrich was sleeping and he won’t wake up.”

After looking around, he found Aldrich unconscious on the slide, with a rope from a pair of toy stilts around his neck.

“His heart was beating but he was not breathing.”

She immediately untangled him from the slide and administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation, while the center’s director, Karen Douglas, called an ambulance.

Karen, who was visibly upset, said that she initially didn’t think it was anything big.

“As I was on the phone, I remember thinking that everything was going to be okay. But when I got to the outside scene and saw CPR being administered, one of my biggest fears within the industry came true.”

The teachers cleared the way for the paramedics, but Aldrich could not be revived.

He died of strangulation.

Worksafe conducted an investigation and found that there was no evidence to support a criminal proceeding.

Occupational safety and health inspector Philip Cuff said the likelihood of staff noticing the hazard was “unpredictable.”

“At no point during the investigation did anyone think that a rope could get caught in that slide, with its rounded corners and curves,” he said.

However, Angels Childcare Center had made changes since the tragic accident.

The center no longer has stilts and has banned anything that could strangle a child on play equipment.

“Anything that can cause strangulation has no place in our facility,” said Karen Douglas.

They also replaced the slide, sectioned off an outdoor area with new fencing, and installed a convex mirror to cover a blind spot outside.

The owner of the center, Bryan McCloughen, said that everyone was still recovering from that terrible day.

“We deeply regret Aldrich’s death. When he lost his life, it affected all of us at the center.”

Aldrich’s parents were not involved in the research.

The coroner has reserved his decision.