In today’s world, most parents are on watch for danger from one moment to the next, but sometimes there is just nothing we can do to see the worst coming. We prepare car seats, grab our child’s hand when we near the street, teach them early on how to paddle to the edge of the pool. Despite all the preparations, accidents still do happen. There is nothing more life-shattering than losing a child, but Emma Carver and Mohammad Umar know exactly how it feels.
Emma was with her son, 2-year-old Ayyan, at the grocery store one day. He was sitting in the cart as his mom shopped. One moment Emma was looking at cheese, the next her son was fighting for his life.
Ayyan began to choke on two grapes he had grabbed from a bag in the cart.
Emma began to hit her son’s back to try to dislodge the grapes. “I even threw the cheese down and I started banging on him,” said Emma. “But it wasn’t getting it out, so it had to be lodged.”
Someone nearby called the paramedics. Another customer tried CPR. After the paramedics arrived a handful of minutes later, they were able to dislodge one grape, but not the other. Poor Ayyan passed away.
Ayyan’s father said, “I was feeling like maybe it was a bad dream, maybe somebody gonna wake me up…I see him everywhere.”
Ayyan’s parents are now advocating for everyone to take first aid classes.
The AAP (American Academy of Pediatrics) recommends keeping whole grapes from children under the age of 4, suggesting that they be cut lengthwise before a child reaches that age. The American Red Cross offers several training courses, among them First Aid, CPR and Child Care training classes. Look up a CPR class near you with the American Red Cross here — Find a Class.
