I hate hearing stories like this but I think it serves as a reminder. I remember when I was little my younger brother, probably 2 or 3 at the time, started choking on a slice of peach. My dad quickly turned him upsided down and luckily it popped out with a couple of slaps to the back. It seems the dad did everything possible but I just wonder if anything else could have been done to save the child. Toddler chokes to death on popcorn at theater Associated Press VALLEY STREAM, N.Y._ - A 3-year-old boy choked to death while eating popcorn at a movie theater. Deontea Riley, of New York City, was at the Sunrise Multiplex Cinemas in Long Island's Valley Stream watching "Alien vs. Predator" with his parents and older brother when he began to choke shortly before 7 p.m. Sunday, Nassau County police said. The family all had been eating from a small tub of popcorn when Elaine McIntosh, the boy's mother, saw that her youngest son was choking. His parents rushed him out of the theater where they performed the Heimlich maneuver without success. "I was trying everything," his father, Eddie Riley, told the Daily News in Tuesday's editions. "I was trying to put my finger down his throat. I didn't feel anything." Police arrived shortly afterward and tried to clear the boy's mouth and perform CPR, but he was pronounced dead at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre. His body was taken to the Nassau University Medical Center morgue pending a medical examiner's report.
I thought the movie was a comedy? I feel for the family involved. That's a terrible tragedy to happen just from a damn piece of popcorn. I bet they never eat popcorn again. To answer the question of "what you would do?", I would probably do what they did but try to use some instrument and jam it down the toddler's throat versus just using my finger. That instrument would be a straw. But, only if the Heimlich manuever didn't work. If none of that worked, then I would probably freak out and break down into my own hell cursing the world and everything in it. Of all the problems that can occur in life, I've just lost my 3 year old to a piece of freaking popcorn. Someone doesn't like me.
I knew a family who lost their baby after he managed to find something on the ground and lodge it in his trachea. The parents were running from neighbor to neighbor holding the baby trying to get help from anyone. Neighbors called paramedics, but it was too late as the baby had choked to death on the object. That was so sad.
i've had a few close calls myself due to my obsessive chewing of various plastic not fun stuff when it accidentally goes down the windpipe feel sorry for the family that experienced the loss of a child like this although one has to wonder as someone else said..... what was a 3 year old doing in a movie like this ?
A Straw seems like a really good idea. May not be a bad idea to carry a hard plastic straw in the wife's purse for just such an occasion.
If it was popcorn, it seems like a little liquid could be poured into the throat. The soggy corn should be more easily dislodged by the Heimlich, shouldn't it?
Nope. When you're choking, you're not going to want to drink a glass of water, you're going to want to force the object out. That's what the heimlich is, it's a sudden force from below the blockage to pop the object out of the passageway. Pouring liquid ain't gonna help. Maybe it's just me, but if you were going to bring a child into the world, wouldn't you want to know things like the Heimlich and CPR??
i can't blame the father for trying what he did - but for you parents out there: NEVER, EVER try and remove a choking object from a childs mouth unless you clearly can see it. You are at much higher risk of pushing an object further into the trachea than removing it with a blind sweep... back blows for small infants and abdominal thrusts (heimlich's) are what you should keep trying. may god give that family peace eventually, -bronxfan (btw - i'm a pediatrician)
Who said anything about drinking? I'm talking about a nominal amount of liquid, here. Doesn't popcorn shrink and become slick when moistened, thereby making the Heimlich more effective. I really don't know, just a thought. And yes, the hospital required that my wife and I learn the "baby heimlich" (back blows like bronxfan said) and infant CPR when we brought a child into this world.
Man that sucks so bad ... I'll pray for the family tonight. One of the earliest memories I have of my life is when I was about 4-5 years old or so playing "Skittlebowl" (a dumb little game back in the 80's) with my mom and brother when I choked on a piece of hard candy. All I remember was my mom hitting me on my back about as hard as she could and even though she kept telling me to try and spit it out I kept trying to swallow it. Luckily she got a good punch into the back and it flew out about 15 ft. To this day I am still nervous about eating alone for fear of choking when I am all by myself (What do you do then anyway?) and it takes me about twice as long to eat as anyone with me because I chew my food so much. A story like this makes me realize how lucky I am. I hope that their family will get over the grief and God will comfort them.
Long ago when I was teaching school, we had a kid who got choked on a nacho or nachoes. He was not completely airless, but I guess it could have gotten worse. We had him drink some water which softened the nacho and we and or he were finally able to dislodge the chip(s) so that he could swallow. Hey, bronxfan, what about a homemade tracheotomy? It is a daunting thought, but look at this poor child's alternative.
As a parent, if you've ever had a child choke, to the near point of CPR, you would not laugh at this. My son and I went through this. He was two then, and choked on a spree candy. I am very capable in the use of CPR (well I thought I was), but for some reason seeing him there struggling, my mind went blank and I was having a hard time figuring the correct steps to help him. My wife who heard me gasp from downstairs, cleared the stairs in about three steps scooped him up by his leg, flipped him upside down, slapped him three times on the back, dislodging the spree. I stood aside and was amazed at how fortunate we were. Was it the exact right thing to do? Who knew, who cared then, the panic and fright was overwhelming. I feel for this family, and thank God every day that I don't have a similar sad story to tell about my little fella. + (I'm not bagging on anyone intentionally about poking fun, if anyone is going to do it, it would be Pariah [third person usage helps me understand Deke better]; this story just brings back those feelings all too well).
