Carolina Personal Injury News

Young Head Injury Victim Sparks New SC Law For Day Care Providers

Posted on Sep 29, 2010

Is your child in danger of receiving a serious head injury or traumatic brain injury while under the care of a day care provider? A new law has been signed by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford that could help protect your children while you are at work by ensuring that your child’s caretakers have received the proper training.

The law, called Kendra’s Law, is named for Kendra Gaddle, a young girl whose life was forever changed when she was struck in the head and shaken by her daycare provider, Talisha Lavette Smith. Smith was sentenced to ten years in prison, though that was later reduced to five years on probation. Kendra, who was six months old at the time of her head injury, is now a young girl who struggles with retina scarring, behavioral issues, sensory issues, weakness on her right side, and other permanent disabilities from her child abuse trauma.

Kendra’s Law hopes to educate anyone and everyone who wants to care for children in South Carolina, whether they work in a school or day care or whether they take care of children in a family’s own home. The law states that all child care providers take a mandatory 2-hour class that covers many basics of child care as well as important safety issues. Kendra’s parents hope that the law will help save another child from the struggle that their child must endure.

About the Editors: Shapiro, Lewis & Appleton is a law firm whose attorneys focus on injury and accident law and have experience handling traumatic brain injury and closed head injuries. In fact, our firm in 2000 helped a brain-damaged client receive what was then the largest verdict for a brain injury case in Virginia history. Then in the year 2012 our firm helped a brain injury client receive a $21 million dollar verdict.

Rick Shapiro and James Lewis have been listed among the Best Lawyers in America since 2008 and and we have been named a North Carolina "Best Law Firm" for personal injury law since 2010 by U.S. News & World Report. In addition, Rick and Jim have been listed in the National Million Dollar Advocates Forum since 2009 and our firm has the highest rating of AV from national lawyer ranking organization Martindale-Hubbell. That means we have a reputation for demonstrating preeminent legal skill.
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