Philadelphia

Day Care Worker Speaks Out About Finding Tot Eating Crack Cocaine

"For a substance like that to be in a child I know, that's very disheartening"

A day care owner credited with likely saving the life of a 3-year-old girl who ingested crack cocaine in West Philadelphia spoke out on Wednesday.

Sereda Thompson, the owner of the Works of Learning Early Day Care on Haverford Avenue near 52nd Street, said her instincts kicked in when she noticed the little girl eating something Tuesday morning. She went to the child and pulled out a small bag with a substance in it -- which police later said turned out to be crack cocaine -- but wasn't able to identify what it was.

Thompson acted quickly and took the child to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to be checked out, she told NBC10's Pamela Osborne. Tests showed the little girl had ingested crack cocaine and she was admitted to the hospital to be monitored.

The toddler is expected to be OK, police said.

Thompson became emotional when she recounted catching the toddler with the dangerous drug.

"For a substance like that to be in a child I know, that's very disheartening," she said. "I would never want any child to experience anything like that."

Police are continuing to investigate where the child got the crack. They said on Tuesday that they do not believe the drug was in the day care center and that the child had been playing outside at some point before adults noticed she had the drug.

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