The mother of an 11-month-old boy has taken to social media to issue a heartfelt warning to fellow parents after her son ingested anti-freeze which was contained with a household fridge magnet.
Deborah Cooney recalled the harrowing moment she realised her son was in grave danger in a Facebook post which has been liked and shared hundreds of times since its upload 18 hours ago.
Outlining the chain of events which occurred last week, Deborah wrote: "Our little boy shay who's 11 months old ingested what's called ethylene glycol .. It's an anti freeze. And it came out of a fridge magnet."
"On Wednesday just gone, I was with him in the room he was only about 3 feet away from me and I noticed he was sucking on a little bottle shaped magnet and immediately went to take it from him," Deborah explained.
I just want to share a our story so that we can bring awareness to other parents out there. Our little boy shay who's 11...
Posted by Deborah Cooney on Saturday, March 26, 2016
"Within seconds he was couching, could barely breath... he was limp, incoherent. It must of fell from the fridge on to the tiles and made a little crack enough for him to suck it out."
Upon raising the alarm, Deborah's son was treated by paramedics before being transferred to Waterford General Hospital where he miraculously survived the harrowing ordeal.
"Thankfully my boy who is made of tough stuff started to come around in the hospital. He was intoxicated. And my doctor has told us that another child could of taken that substance and collapsed and that would of been it."
Like most mums, Deborah explained that she was confident she had adequately baby-proofed her home, but as Wednesday's misadventure proved, you can never be too careful.
"I urge ye to throw away any magnet with liquid on it that has the possibility to be so dangerous., she wrote. "We had no idea. I never would of thought for a minute it could of been so toxic. I will be going through my house with a fine tooth comb now." (sic)
Deborah concluded her post with an update on her brave little boy's progress, writing: "After a really tough few days my baby boy came home from hospital today and is on the mend."
We are so relieved to hear it.
