By james art LUBBOCK, Texas (Gray News) – Cheerleaders at a Texas middle school suffered first and second degree burns on their hands after their coach made them crawl around the hot outdoor track as punishment earlier this month.
According to a local report by KLBK, 13 cheerleaders at Evans Middle School in Lubbock suffered burns after performing a “bear crawl” on Oct. 9.
Eighth grade cheerleaders told KLBK they were punished for performing a cheer at a football game, which their coach allegedly didn’t want them to do.
The girls said they were told to crawl a mile, but most couldn’t continue after two laps because of the pain in their arms.
One of the cheerleaders said she told the coach her hands were on fire, to which the coach replied she “didn’t care” and forced them to continue.
After hearing about what happened, one of the parents went to check the temperature on the track that afternoon and said it was at least 125 degrees.
KLBK reported that at least one cheerleader was taken to University Medical Center’s burn unit.
Numerous photos of the girls’ hands show large blisters and burns.
The coach, who is a teacher at the school, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by both the school district and police.
The parents said they are hoping for criminal charges.
The Lubbock Independent School District confirmed the incident in a statement and said in part, “We want to express our deep concern and regret for the pain and suffering this has caused the students and their families. No child should be put to harm in a school environment and we are fully committed to ensuring that incidents like this do not happen again.”
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