This tragic story hit me directly in the heart.
As a parent, I try to keep my children from danger every time I’m around them.
But what if the cause of the problem was something that couldn’t be seen or felt and the symptoms only appear hours or days later? How will you know there is a connection between the things before the tragedy strikes?
All parents should read this.
Summer is finally here, and the bathing season has begun – fun days at sea, picnics near the beach, and swimming lessons at the local swimming pool.
And yet no one enjoys a day of fun in the swimming pool more than children. Their parents, on the other hand, need to find the balance between having fun and keeping their children safe.
No matter if the children are playing with sea waves or dipping in the children’s swimming pool, their parents are always on guard when the children are in the water. Because all you have to do is look away for a moment, and tragedy can strike.
But even if you watch the kids every second and don’t take your eyes off them, terrible things can still happen. On May 29th 2017, 4-year-old Frankie went to the swimming pool with his family. Everyone enjoyed. Frankie’s parents kept him going all the time and everything seemed normal.
But in the days that followed, Frankie began to develop flu symptoms, before feeling a little better.
Then, almost a week after swimming in the pool, the 4-year-old woke up in excruciating pain and screams. Seconds later he took his last breath.
Frankie’s father was with him when it happened. He immediately called an ambulance that arrived quickly and rushed the boy to hospital, while he was not breathing.
“The doctors and nurses did everything they could”, Tara, Frankie’s mother, recalls watching them trying to save her son’s life.
After a while, two doctors approached Tara and told her they could not save little Frankie.
The boy’s lungs were full of water and he was a victim of what’s known as ‘dry drowning’.
Dry drowning has symptoms, and if noticed and treated in time, the life of the victim can be saved. Doctors recommend that parents pay attention to three symptoms in their children, each of which can be an indication that the brain is not getting enough oxygen.
The Symptoms:
Difficulty breathing after swimming
Excessive fatigue or drowsiness
Forgetfulness or a radical change in behavior
Frankie’s parents are sorry they didn’t know this before. If they had known, their son might have been alive today. Now they hope Frankie’s death will at least serve as a warning to other parents.
Watch Frankie’s mother tell her son’s story: