A family, preparing to bury their four-year-old child, wants to warn other parents of the condition that cost them their son.
A 4-year-old Texas kid died of dry drowning a week after going swimming. Francisco Delgado III passed away a week after swimming at the Texas City Dike near Galveston with his family. After swimming, “Baby Frankie,” as his parents called him, displayed signs of an upset stomach, but since he appeared to be getting better, they didn’t pay it any attention. Frankie then woke up in the middle of the night and stopped breathing approximately a week after going swimming.
The family never considered that his condition that night might have been related to the swimming vacation from a week earlier. His family was shocked. Frankie was drowning but they had no idea what was wrong with the otherwise healthy young boy.
Frankie’s father, Francisco Delgado Jr., said, “Out of nowhere, he just woke up. He said ah, he took his last breath, and I didn’t know what to do no more.”
Telling the dispatchers that his son had stopped breathing and required immediate emergency medical attention, Frankie was taken to the hospital after Francisco Jr. dialed 9-1-1.
Tara Delgado, Frankie’s mother said, “I walked in. I could see him lying there. They were still working on him. I’m screaming. Let me just touch my baby. Maybe he needs his mama’s touch. When [the doctor] came in, she told us it’s what’s called dry drowning. His lungs were full of fluid. There was nothing else they could do for him.”
Frankie had fluid in his lungs and around his heart, according to WXIN. He had been swimming a week earlier, but the water from the incident was still in his body.
Days or weeks after someone breathes in water, a phenomenon known as day drowning can happen. Breathing difficulties, coughing, drowsiness, lethargy, and vomiting are signs of dry drowning.
A person’s lungs become irritated if water enters them. As a result, the lungs swell with fluid even more. Days or weeks after someone breathes in water, a phenomenon known as day drowning can happen. Breathing difficulties, coughing, drowsiness, lethargy, and vomiting are signs of dry drowning.
Days or weeks after someone breathes in water, a phenomenon known as day drowning can happen. Breathing difficulties, coughing, drowsiness, lethargy, and vomiting are signs of dry drowning.
A person’s lungs become irritated if water enters them. As a result, the lungs swell with fluid even more.
According to USA Today’s interview with Purva Grover, medical director of the pediatric emergency rooms at Cleveland Clinic Children, Grover said:
“You might not witness your child inhale any pool water, but it’s important to watch out for signs soon after an event that could cause dry drowning. It’s very unusual for the child to have absolutely no symptoms, but they may go to bed and in the middle of the night have trouble breathing. It takes a couple of hours for the fluid to emerge in the lungs.”
Children could drown in as little as a few inches of water, Texas Children’s Hospital expert Dr. Kay Leaming-Van Zandt told KTRH, “It only takes a split second. Drowning is silent. It’s not similar to what you see in the movies where there is a lot of commotion,” Leaming-Van Zandt said.
Sources: AWM, Abc13, sharesplosion