INDIANAPOLIS — A 14-year-old freshman dance team member at Warren Central High School is recovering at Riley Hospital for Children after she says she was forced to do bear crawls on a track during practice in 89-degree heat, which resulted in second-degree burns to the palms of her hands.

The girl’s father, Travis Peagler, filed a police report and has hired an attorney.

“Nobody can believe it. I can’t believe it. I’m still in shock,” Travis Peagler told IndyStar on Wednesday. “It just makes me sad that the school wouldn’t hire more caring and responsible adults. At the end of the day, when you’re in charge of other people’s children, you’re responsible for those children. You need to take care of those children and have those kids be safe.”

According to Warren Township Schools, “several students” were injured during the practice. When asked by IndyStar if the coach was still employed with the school system, the organization sent this response:

“We are aware of an incident during last week’s dance team practice involving a conditioning drill on the track that resulted in several students sustaining blisters to their hands from the surface. We are taking this matter very seriously, conducting an active investigation, and remain in close contact with students and families to support their recovery. The safety and well-being of our student-athletes will always be our top priority, and we remain committed to listening to our students and families as we learn from this incident.”

According to Peagler, his daughter has been dancing since she was 3 years old and was thrilled to make the majorette dance team for the marching band as a freshman. IndyStar is not naming her because she is a minor.

But on Thursday when Peagler went to pick his daughter up from practice, he was appalled to see the condition of the palms of her hands, covered in blisters and open wounds, which he said occurred when his daughter was forced to do bear crawls on a scorching track for 600 meters. The girl said several other teammates were forced to do the same.

Peagler said it was part training and part punishment for his daughter, whose grades had slipped.

A bear crawl involves leaning over and walking with your hands on the track while on tiptoes. The Warren Central dance coach allegedly tried to get her to do that for a mile, four times around the 400-meter track, her father alleges. She made it one and a half times around the track, or 600 meters.

In 89-degree heat, an asphalt track can reach temperatures of 145 degrees or higher, especially in direct sunlight. “This is because the dark color of asphalt absorbs and retains a significant amount of the sun’s heat, causing its surface temperature to be much hotter than the surrounding air,” according to Sunrise Asphalt, a company in Arizona.

“And my daughter said the other teammates were laughing at her and mocking her,” Peagler said. “And she was complaining to the coach that her hands were hurting.” According to the girl, the coach insisted that she keep going.

“Being so young and impressionable, you know, she’s trying to please her coach, even though she’s in pain, and she doesn’t want to get kicked off the team,” Peagler said. “So she kept going. She kept going.”

When Peagler picked his daughter up from practice, she was acting “loopy,” he said, and told him she thought she was going to pass out as she walked across the field after the bear crawls.

“First of all, I was in shock as a human being and as a parent,” Peagler said. “And I got so angry because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

‘We don’t want other families to have to go through this’

At the hospital, the girl was diagnosed with second-degree burns, which according to Riley “is defined as a partial-thickness burn that damages the first two layers of skin (the epidermis and dermis), often appearing with blisters, redness, swelling, and pain and may be moist and pink.”

When a nurse practitioner walked in and saw his daughter’s hands, Peagler said, she had to hold back tears. 

“Her hands, she had huge blisters, burns, you know, like you tear off like a piece of rubber on something,” Peagler said. “Her thumbs, the skin on her thumbs was rolled up.”

Doctors said it would take six months for the girl’s hands to fully heal and there could be permanent scarring, Peagler said. He also said doctors believe his daughter suffered heat stroke or heat exhaustion.

“We have placed the school on notice of our representation,” said Dustin Fregiato, an attorney with Ladendorf, Fregiato & Bigler. “Right now, the focus of the Peaglers and our firm is making sure that (the girl) gets the care she needs and she’s back in a place where can thrive as a young teenager, and that the school district takes safety of its students seriously.

“As far as legal action against them in the future, all options are being pursued.”

Peagler wants to make clear he is not opposed to disciplining students and stands behind hard work, conditioning and training.

“I’m a firm believer in discipline, but in a healthy and a safe way,” Peagler said. “Besides me being angry as a parent and a defender of truth and righteousness, I’m angry at the negligence and irresponsibility of the school. At the end of the day, it’s all about keeping the kids safe. That’s all we really want. We don’t want other families to have to go through this.”

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.   

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Second-degree burns for HS dancer forced to do bear crawls on scorching track