Students left with burns after Ash Wednesday church service “But when some of the kids wiped it off, it ripped the skin off as well. It was red raw." Mrs Brown said.
An Ash Wednesday service at a Catholic school has left 90 pupils and staff with chemical burns, as parents say they are considering legal action. Two pupils were hospitalised and scores more were burned after a priest marked crosses on assembly-goers’ foreheads as part of an Ash Wednesday ceremony at a top-performing school. A total of 73 students, 16 staff and the chair of the governors were burned after being marked with the ash as a token of penitence and mortality during the ritual at the Saint Augustine’s Catholic High School in Worcestershire. The priest, assisted by two students, began marking pupils’ foreheads. But the ritual was stopped half way through when children complained of 'tingling', Cassena Brown, 39, the mother of a badly-burnt pupil, said. The cross marking then ceased and students were asked to wash the ashes off immediately to ensure no further discomfort was felt, the school said.
"They should have been sent to a medical professional, not given a perfumed wet wipe," she added. Parents have said they are considering taking legal action against the school after medics told one of them the “chemical burn” would likely leave scarring. Mrs Brown said she was ‘gobsmacked’ when she saw her son for the first time after the incident. "My son was the worst of everyone. Because he is of Afro-Caribbean heritage you can see the burn very clearly, as the skin is burned and it's white underneath. He won't go to school. He's embarrassed,” she said. Saint Augustine’s Catholic High School said in a statement: “it is dismayed by the event and treats students’ health and safety as paramount.” The school in Redditch - voted top in Worcestershire by The Real Schools Guide, 2018 - said it is investigating the incident and that the ashes are being analysed by external experts.
How does this even happen? It's ashes, not acid. Are the kids demons or something?
Tyler Campbell
It's God's way of saying, "No, you don't get to wash this away. The sign will stay for a while. Go forth and do good and avoid sin!"
Jayden Watson
kek
Eli Johnson
You guys know wood ash is alkali, right?\ This seems like a good extra penance tbh
Brody Wright
they do make soap out of ashes and fat, so maybe the ash in contact with greasy juvenile forehead made a soapy reaction and burned them.
Christian Bell
I'm pretty sure I have a soul, user
Jeremiah Lopez
This Besides aren't they supposed to use palm ash?
Isaiah Nguyen
LOL!
Landon Hughes
Ouch, hope no one put some chemicals in the ashes to prank hard…hope they’ll find out what happened, but personally I wouldn’t sue the parish. Probably demand for an explanation, but suing? I think not (but I could be wrong).
Liam Wood
I don't know much about chemistry, but apparently there is a substance called lye that is made from ashes and water. It is corrosive and has been traditionally used to make soap and preservatives.
My guess is that while mixing up the ashes with water, they somehow accidently made lye and smeared it on peoples heads. Again, I have no idea how they messed up, but it seems like an honest mistake.
Mason Fisher
Yeah, could be: was used as a bleaching agent in many villages in Italy until the late 50s…forgot about that, thanks for the reminder. Weird that they all got itchy tho: ashes never bothered anyone when applied for Ash Wednesday, at least back home and here in the UK…
Carson Anderson
Oh I forgot about this. Even so, the ashes for Ash Wednesday are supposed to be made from leftover palms from last year's Palm Sunday, and palm leaves shouldn't have the necessary potassium content to make lye. Lye is made from hardwood ashes. If your theory is correct then this parish broke from tradition in a truly ignorant and horrific manner.
Kevin Green
Don't know what they used to make the ashes from but if it isn't completely charred black you'd better not add water to it.
Joseph Thomas
I'm glad my mother isn't a money-hungry sociopath. Poor kid.
