Butchered finger prompts warning over toys at Cairns child care Shilo Villaflor and her son Caiden Villaflor20 months whose hand was badly injured after play utensils were replaced with real metal utensils in his local day care's kitchen play area. A YOUNG Cairns boy has butchered his finger on a set of tongs in a daycare centre's mock kitchen play area, where toy utensils were replaced with real ones. Holloways Beach mother Shilo Villaflor has warned parents to educate themselves on what "toys" are available to their children in Cairns centres after her 20-month-old son Caiden was rushed to the emergency ward following an incident at Pelicans in The City Early Learning Centre. The Parramatta Park centre's play areas have been adjusted to closely reflect a home environment, including the addition of metal utensils and, reportedly, glass jars instead of plastic play tools in the mock kitchen space. Caiden was using a set of tongs last Tuesday when he caught his left pinky finger in the apex, peeling back the skin on his finger and cutting another two when they were pulled off. Ms Villaflor arrived at the centre to find her son screaming in pain and his hand bandaged. "It looked like someone had grabbed a giant potato peeler and taken to his finger," she said. After pressing the wound to stop the bleeding, Ms Villaflor and her son were covered in blood when they got to Cairns Hospital, where staff shot morphine up Caiden's nose before testing for suspected bone damage. Doctors said Caiden's recovery would take several weeks, and surgery could be required if his skin does not heal itself. Ms Villaflor, a single mother, has taken two weeks off work to care for Caiden and has requested Pelicans cover one week of lost wages. She described the incident as "an incredibly traumatic ordeal" and she plans to pull Caiden out of the centre. She also said it marked the first she knew about Pelicans" kitchen play space featuring real tongs, and she didn't believe their addition was justified. "I just don't understand why it needs to look and work like a kitchen when I don't allow Caiden in the kitchen at home," she said. I'd like to see the toys reflect the age of the children playing with them. But Pelicans in the City manager Adrian Fonseca said that Pelicans prided itself on providing a "safe and educational space almost reminiscent of the home learning environment." "The reason why these tongs were there is because they are a part of the learning journey in an environment created to be like that of a home," he said. He said all utensils used in the centre's play areas were "signed off by everyone," including the Department of Education, and there had never before been an incident with any real utensils in the "years" they had featured in the play areas of Pelicans centres across the state. "But if you take a crayon or a wooden spoon and use it inappropriately, it's going to cause injury, and this child has used these tongs on his fingers and it's caused an issue," he said. Mr Fonseca said correct procedures were actioned by centre staff immediately after Caiden's injury occurred. Pelicans Cairns region manager Amanda Judd said no concerns had been raised over the use of real utensils in the centre at a recent parent information evening. Mr Fonseca said the specific set of tongs that caused Caiden's accident had since been removed and "risks had been reassessed." "We are devastated by what has happened, but you can't remove everything from an environment that could cause harm, because you'd be left with a cold floor," he said. Centre staff agreed to waive Caiden's fees during his absence, but Mr Fonseca said it would be inappropriate for the centre to reimburse Ms Villaflor for wages lost while she cared for him. Originally published as Boy's bloody wound at daycare centre