A four-year-old Texas boy died from “dry drowning” almost a week after his family went swimming at the Texas City Dike, in […]
A four-year-old Texas boy died from “dry drowning” almost a week after his family went swimming at the Texas City Dike, in Texas City.
Frankie went swimming pool with his family. Everyone had a fun time. Frankie’s parents kept an eye on him the whole time and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
But over the following days, Frankie started experiencing flu-like symptoms, before feeling a bit better.
Then almost a week after Frankie went swimming, the four-year-old woke up in extreme pain and screamed out loud. Seconds later, he took his last breath.
Frankie’s dad was with him when it happened. He immediately called emergency services and an ambulance promptly showed up and rushed the boy’s lifeless body to the hospital.
The doctors and nurses did everything they could, remembers Tara, Frankie’s mom, who watched them try to save her son’s life.
After a while, two doctors came to Tara and told her that they were unable to save little Frankie.
The boy’s lungs were filled with water and he had fallen victim to so-called dry drowning.
Dry drowning, also called secondary drowning, can occur hours after a child has experienced a near-drowning incident. If untreated, if can lead to brain injury, respiratory problems or death.The uncommon condition mostly involves young children.
Even if a child ingests only a “few gasps” of water in a pool incident, he or she could be at risk of experiencing dry drowning later, Purva Grover, medical director of Cleveland Clinic Children’s pediatric emergency departments said in a 2015 interview.
Dry drowning occurs after a child inhales water through the mouth or nostrils and that water gets into the lungs. The lungs spasm, making breathing difficult, and the lungs can become irritated from the water and fill with fluid, according to Purva.
Children can start showing symptoms of dry drowning 24 to 48 hours after inhaling water. Purva says symptoms can include coughing, vomiting, fever, struggling for breath and mood swings.
Frankie’s parents wish they’d known this earlier. If they had, their son would be alive today. Now, they hope that Frankie’s death can at least serve as a warning to others.