Do you think your toddler would know their way home?
The parents of three-year-old Cain Trainor have defended the nursery he attends after the toddler left his playgroup and walked home alone.
Gemma Trainor said she described the phone call to say her son Cain had been lost on his first day at the Little Owls playgroup as the “worst moment of my life.”
“I felt sick – there aren’t words to describe that feeling of something terrible happening which is totally out of your control.
“I rushed to the school and when I got there, they were all in tears.
“The headteacher came running over, saying they didn’t know what had happened.
“Then within seconds, I got a phone call from my next door neighbour saying Cain had arrived home. I burst into tears with relief.”
Three-year-old Cain took on an adventure of his own as he walked around 30 minutes, following a route he barely knew, which consisted of a mix of roads, cycle paths and woodland.
His mum said he had only used that route during summer bike rides with his dad.
Despite going through every parent’s worst nightmare, Gemma says that she still wants Cain to attend the Little Owls nursery in Newham Bridge and says that she has been reassured by its response to the incident and the procedures it plans to put in place.
She added: “I certainly don’t want them to be slated – I don’t think that would be fair.”