One Bite Was All It Took To Almost Kill Him, Heed Mother's Grave Warning

By Carolyn Marie
Published April 28, 2018 at 9:50am

Katy Bavill’s story is not unique, which in this case, makes it only more important to share. Her child was almost killed by a common hazard.

By sharing what happened to her two-year-old son, Ralph, Bavill hopes others will heed her grave warning.

The family was at their Alwoodley home in England, and Ralph sat next to his mom as he ate a snack.

In Bavill’s eyes, the scene could not be more harmless.

A two-year-old was in his own home with his mother sitting right next to him. What could go wrong?

Unfortunately, the snack of choice poses a great risk to babies and young children. Ralph was eating grapes.

The grapes were not cut length-wise, which is the correct way to serve grapes to children five years of age and younger. A whole grape became lodged in Ralph’s throat.

“You just don’t think about these things unless you have to and Ralph had been eating grapes for a while. The possibility of him choking on one just wasn’t on my radar,” Bavill shared with the Yorkshire Evening Post.

He stopped breathing, and then went into cardiac arrest.Clinical supervisor Andrew Hughes, emergency medical technician Andy Towers, and paramedic Wendy Durkin responded to the call about a two-year-old boy choking on a grape.

When they arrived, the situation was grim. The ambulance staff assessed the situation and determined Ralph had faint signs of life.

Ralph’s heart was not beating for an excruciatingly long five minutes. Incredibly, the staff resuscitated the boy and brought him to Leeds General Infirmary where he shows no signs of organ failure or brain damage.

Bavill shared, “Now that Ralph is completely better and life is moving along, we’re using our experience to extol the virtues of first aid knowledge. It was a lesson harshly learned and I feel strongly about helping other people to be prepared for any emergency.”

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