A seventh grader in Texas says she suffered "excruciating" blisters on her palms when she was forced to perform exercises at school for laughing with a friend in class.
Caydence Wilson told TV station KTBX that "it felt like a knife was stabbed into my palm" following the incident at Caldwell Junior High School in Caldwell, about 75 miles east of Austin.
She said the school's principal gave her and the other girl that they would serve about 20 minutes of classroom detention and said that their softball coach would also be told about their misbehavior.
As further punishment, the coach told Caydence to do 100 squats and a round of bear crawls on the outdoor turf in what felt like 90-degree heat, she said during an interview broadcast on Thursday.
The latter exercise, in which only the palms and toes touch the ground while someone moves around, left her with large blisters near her wrists.
"I could feel the blisters burning on my hands and I told her and she was like 'You're OK you're almost done,'" Caydence said of her coach. "But I wasn't really almost done so I kept going and I got on my knees because I could feel them push and pop."
After telling another coach about her injuries, Caydence said, she was given some ice but the blisters burst.
She described the pain as "excruciating."
Her mother, Chloe Couch, told KTBX that she didn't find out what happened until Caydence sent her photos of the oozing blisters while riding home on a school bus, after which Couch took she took her to St. Joseph's Hospital in Bryan, Texas.
There, Caydence's palms were cleaned and numbed and the damaged skin was removed over the course of about seven hours, with Couch lamenting that she couldn't hold her daughter's hands for comfort as Caydence was "screaming and shouting" in pain.
Couch, who posted the photos of Caydence's blisters on Facebook, also said the episode was stressing her finances.
"I'm a single mom of three kids, so I'm living paycheck to paycheck and making my ends meet as I can for my kids," Couch said.
"I can't afford medical bills and medications and wraps and stuff like that, that we're having to apply every four to six hours for the pain."
In a statement, the Caldwell Independent School District said it was aware of the photos, adding, "We take any reports of incidents very seriously and are actively investigating the matter in accordance with our established protocols and procedures."
"Please be assured that appropriate actions will be taken based on the outcome of our investigation," the district added.
The Burleson County Sheriff's Office also said it was investigating, according to KTBX.
