It was a fun, normal day of swimming for 4-year-old Elianna. Elianna and a friend were playing with a water noodle. The friend was at one end of the noodle, Elianna was at the other. Playing, the friend blew in the noodle, sending water into Elianna’s face. Elianna inhaled the water.
Coughing and sputtering Elianna tired to expel the water and even vomited some of the water up.
In a cautionary Facebook post about the situation, Elianna’s mom said that she had remembered a post from a parent on the dangers of “dry drowning” — when water gets inhaled into the lungs causing a child to asphyxiate.
“I contemplated whether or not this was worth posting, and at the end of the day, I am where I am because of something another Dad posted sometime last year. If I can even help save one child, this is worth it for me.”
Elianna’s mom goes on to explain the situation. She said that immediately after the incident, Elianna was fine, playing and behaving normally.
The next day, Elianna developed a fever. Elianna’s mom said that she knew fevers in children was normal.
“I didn’t think much. Tuesday she slept most of the day but still overall looked fine. Sent her to school Wednesday and got a call in the afternoon that her fever was back.”
She said that she couldn’t get the cautionary Facebook post out of her head, so she took Elianna to the doctor.
Once at the doctor, Elianna’s mom found out how severe the situation was, “We were there about 10 minutes when the doctor said to get her to the nearest ER as soon as possible. Her heart rate was crazy high, her oxygen was low, and her skin was turning purple which suggested chemical infection.”
Elianna was rushed to the hospital. They found out she had developed pneumonia and needed the assistance of oxygen to breathe.
Elianna eventually made a full recovery, but her mom wants other moms to be aware of the dangers of “dry drowning.”
