An eight-month-old child was hospitalized Friday with an infection from a surgical incision, a broken bone and cocaine in his bloodstream
Social workers and the sheriff’s office were contacted after the child was transferred from McLeod Loris to New Hanover Novant, according to the report. The child has undergone an operation for an abcess in his groin, and a surgical drain inserted in the incision. The drain had not been properly removed at a hospital, but allegedly by the child’s mother after she missed a followup appointment, the report said.
When the area became swollen, the child’s mother took him back to McLeod. A urine screen showed cocaine in the baby’s system, and a full body scan showed a broken right foot.
Social workers from Columbus DSS as well as Novant had been “working on the case for two days,” the report said.
The child has been removed from his mother’s custody and the case is the second felony child abuse case investigated by Columbus deputies and DSS in two days. The cases are not related.