One mum has bravely opened up about a horrifying ordeal where her two-year-old son nearly choked to death on a bouncy ball.
Sharing her story with Channel Mum, Carrie Owen revealed the terrifying moment she nearly lost her son, “I’ve just experienced the worst 24 hours of my life. My son Toby yesterday nearly died. They say you can’t watch them 24/7 and how true that is.”
She explained that her son Toby put one of the balls in his mouth and starting choking. The youngster was struggling to breathe and the ball was trapped in his throat, blocking his airway.
Numerous efforts were made to dislodge the ball, “We started the attempt to save our boy's life. We started with back thrusts but the lodged item wouldn’t budge. Rich attempted to scoop it out but still to no avail.”
A friend of the family even attempted CPR on the boy, “Watching that being performed on your own child is a vision I will never be rid of. He managed only a couple of short laboured breaths and went in and out of consciousness.”
The mum shared, “He stopped breathing, his body went limp, eyes in the back of his head. We all thought the worst.”
Luckily, the ambulance crew arrived swiftly and started to work on saving young Toby, “The crew managed to get his mouth open and get a blade in and engaged the ball enough to scoop it out.”
Carrie had no idea that her son had swallowed the bouncy ball, she presumed it was something else, “There I was thinking my boy had choked on a marble, not a large approx 4cm wide rubber ball. I never ever wish to see one of those balls again.”
Toby was rushed to the hospital where he had numerous tests and X-rays carried out. Struggling to breathe on his own, Carrie’s worries started to grow.
She wrote, “His little body struggling to breathe like it should. He kept getting a raised temperature, something else to cause more concern. I couldn’t bear watching my boy so helpless.”
Toby began to make progress throughout the night, he even managed to name everyone in a family photo, “Those words- Daddy, Mummy, Darcey, Toby, and Bear. The best words in the world,” the mum gushed.
Carrie stressed the importance of acting swiftly in times of emergency, “The speedy actions of myself, rich, Campbell and my dad making that call, the paramedics saved my boys life. SAVED MY BOYS LIFE.”
Click here to read about choking: how to recognise and prevent it.
