15-month-old girl electrocuted at Wichita carnival dies
By Daniel Salazar and Tim Potter
The family of a 15-month-old girl who was critically injured at a Wichita carnival last week announced that she died.
Shaun and Rheannon Bartonek said in a statement through Wesley Healthcare that their daughter, Pressley, died Wednesday afternoon.
“We have made the difficult decision to donate her organs so that other patients in need of transplants no longer have to suffer through their illnesses and that her death was not in vain,” according to the statement released Friday morning. “We request that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
The girl was injured May 12 at a carnival in the parking lot of Towne West Square.
The girl’s grandmother previously told The Eagle that the toddler wasn’t big enough to join other family in a bouncy house at the carnival. She was swinging back and forth on a handrail in front of the ride when she was electrocuted by a live wire.
The girl’s father pried her off the handrail and the family flagged down off-duty police officers nearby, who called 911. She was transported to a hospital.
A Westar utility worker found 290 volts of electricity being carried by equipment after it shocked Pressley Bartonek.
The same carnival, run by Missouri-based Evans United Shows, is now putting on a show at the Kansas Expocentre in Topeka.
A GoFundMe page has been created for the family.
"Sweet little 15 month old Pressley was attending Evans United Shows
carnival at Towne West with her family friday evening when she held onto
a gate surrounding one of the rides and went unconcious. Westar energy
was called and found the gate charged with 290 volts of electricity.
Please help her family during this difficult time if you can and
continue to pray for them!
"
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Family of toddler critically hurt at Towne West carnival asking for prayers
By Stan Finger and Beccy Tanner
The Wichita Eagle
The grandmother of a 15-month-old girl injured at a carnival in the parking lot of Towne West Square is asking for prayers for the critically injured child.
Lynn Bartonek said Sunday evening that the next 36 hours will be the most critical for her granddaughter.
“Her breathing has improved some,” Bartonek said.
The girl was injured Friday night at the Evans United Shows carnival when she possibly was shocked by a live wire. The carnival’s last day at Towne West was Sunday.
The company, based in Plattsburg, Mo., has not released a statement nor responded to calls for comment.
Bartonek said the family is grateful for everyone who stopped to help them at Towne West on Friday and since then.
“Without them, we wouldn’t have her,” Bartonek said Sunday.
The girl’s grandmother had said on Saturday that the toddler wasn’t big enough to join her mother and her older sister in a bouncy house at the carnival. To pass the time while waiting, she decided to swing back and forth on what the family said was a handrail that had a wire in front of the ride while her father shot video at about 9 p.m.
“She was swinging back and forth, and all of a sudden she was going straight back with her eyes wide open,” Bartonek said of her granddaughter, whose name is being withheld by her family.
“My son told me, ‘Mom, I had to pry her hands off the handrail,’ ” Bartonek said.
The toddler’s parents flagged down off-duty police officers nearby, who called 911. The first responders worked on trying to revive her before she was transported to a hospital, her family said.
As of late Saturday night, the little girl had still not regained consciousness, Bartonek said, and the family is hoping for a miracle.
“There was a possibility of some type of electric shock,” Officer Charley Davidson said Saturday. “We’re still trying to determine whether that is the cause.”
When police went to the hospital late Friday night and told doctors they suspected the girl had been shocked, they checked her body and found burn marks on her feet, Bartonek said.
“A fun evening turned into a lot of pain,” Bartonek said.
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Carnival equipment touched by girl was carrying 290 volts, Westar says
By Tim Potter and Beccy Tanner
The Wichita Eagle
A utility worker found 290 volts of electricity being carried by equipment after it apparently shocked a 15-month-old girl at a Wichita carnival, a Westar Energy official said Monday night.
A Westar troubleshooter was sent to the carnival after the incident at a Towne West parking lot Friday night. The utility worker found that the equipment was electrified with 290 volts, and the utility worker remained until carnival staff members made the situation safe, said Westar spokeswoman Ebony Clemons. She didn’t know what work was entailed to make it safe.
The girl was critically injured when she was possibly shocked by an electric wire. Her family said she had been swinging back and forth on a handrail that had a wire in front of a bouncy house.
The girl’s father said Monday afternoon that his daughter was undergoing tests to determine the severity of her injuries. She remained in severe to critical condition.
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A 15-month-old girl who was electrocuted near a ride at a carnival last week near Wichita, Kansas, has died, according to a report.
Pressley Bartonek is seen in a photo posted to a GoFundMe page.
The toddler, Pressley Bartonek, passed away Wednesday afternoon, according to television station KAKE in Wichita, citing a statement from her family.
Pressley was with her relatives at the carnival last Friday night when the child “went unconscious” after holding on to a gate that surrounded one of the rides, according to a GoFundMe account set up for the girl’s family.
The incident occurred outside a bouncy house that her mother and older sister were on while at the carnival, the toddler’s grandmother told The Wichita Eagle. The little girl, who wasn’t big enough to go on it, was waiting for them outside, swinging on a handrail.
“She was swinging back and forth, and all of a sudden she was going straight back with her eyes wide open,” Lynn Bartonek told the newspaper.
The grandmother said her son had to pry his daughter’s hands off the rail, while the family immediately went to get help. Pressley was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Carnivalgoers who witnessed the incident said they weren’t sure what happened to the toddler.
“We just saw the little girl unresponsive and everybody freaked out and was trying to help her, ” Josselin Sedivy told the station. She said her husband was among those who came to the child’s aid.
Wester Energy later found the gate has been charged with 290 volts of electricity, according to the television station and the fundraising page.
She died five days later.
Her family issued a statement to KAKE following her death:
“We have made the difficult decision to donate her organs so that other patients in need of transplants no longer have to suffer through their illnesses and that her death was not in vain. We request that you respect our privacy during this difficult time.”
