A Florida woman named Cori Ward, 30, was arrested by law enforcement Thursday after filming her daughter in a doctor’s office licking a tongue depressor and putting it back.
A sign that reads, “PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH MEDICAL SUPPLIES! THANK YOU” is clearly seen above the tongue depressor jar on a wall. Ward claims she originally recorded her daughter to post on her Snapchat story, but the video later became viral after it was shared on a Facebook page known as “Only in Duval.” A caption included in the video says, “Don’t tell me how to live my life.”
“I mean honestly, I wasn’t thinking,” Ward told told local media in Jacksonville, Florida. Ward says the video doesn’t tell the whole story and claims she disposed of the depressor and she “removed the items that were even surrounding it.”
“I know what it’s like to, you know, have to worry about your kids’ health and stuff. I would never put somebody else’s kid at risk,” Ward said.
Dr. Sunil Joshi, a doctor seen in the video, had warned that others who follow the woman’s example could expose their community to serious health risks.
“This is how viral infection spreads, right? Through respiratory droplets, and here you’re putting saliva on a tongue depressors that you’re putting straight into someone’s mouth,” Dr. Joshi said.
Jail records show Ward was charged with the felony of “tampering with a consumer product without regard for possible death or bodily injury.”
