A mum screamed for help when her daughter’s lips turned blue and she struggled to breathe after inhaling chlorine tablets meant for her hot tub.
Natasha Comaskey had taken her three children on a trip to M&D’s theme park in Motherwell but as the family prepared to leave, her oldest daughter Savannah, 10, became extremely ill.
As Natasha was strapping 10-month-old Oakley into her car seat, Savannah opened the packet of chlorine tablets and began to gasp for air as her throat closed up.
Her terrified mum was screaming for help and begging someone to phone an ambulance as Savannah’s lips turned blue and she clutched at her neck.
Natasha, 30, said: “I had taken the girls to M&D’s on Thursday and we only stayed for around an hour as it was too warm.
“Just as I was trying to strap my 10-month-old in, I heard Savannah’s younger sister Hayden screaming and crying.
“Savannah came round the side of the car and was trying to grab onto me. She couldn’t get her words out. She was trying to get her breath and crying.
“I was shouting what’s wrong? I was trying to ask my younger daughter what had happened – I was screaming for someone to help me and screaming someone phone an ambulance.
“She was getting a bit more lifeless and her face was getting whiter. Her lips were also turning blue. I kept slapping her back as I didn’t know what to do or what had happened.
“A guy came running over and he was putting his slush down, Savannah had her hand out as if to say juice – she looked as though her eyes were rolling back – I put her head back and poured the slush into her mouth. That’s when she let out a big cough and managed to have a breath and come around a bit.”
When Savannah managed to catch her breath, Natasha phoned an ambulance and two women helped the family into the cafe inside the theme park.
Cafe staff quickly rushed to their aid and helped look after seven-year-old Hayden and Oakley until their dad arrived.
Paramedics were at the scene within five minutes and told Natasha it was possible the chlorine tablets had melted in the heat and Savannah’s airways had closed when she sniffed them.
The schoolgirl was taken to Wishaw General Hospital and had to be put on oxygen, a drip and a cardiac machine as her heart rate kept dropping and her potassium levels remained low.
She was unable to keep anything down and kept being sick as medics monitored her overnight.
Savannah is now at home recovering but has been traumatised by the incident, and mum Natasha is desperate to raise awareness of the dangers chlorine tablets can pose.
Natasha said: “Probably no-one knows the dangers. It is scary stuff. I want to try and warn people about it. I was helpless – that’s probably the only time in her life I’ve been helpless to her needs.
“I would like to warn people as I know so many people buying hot tubs and pools and thinking it is fine unless they have a baby moving about.
“I put a post on Facebook and nobody even thought they could be really dangerous unless they were eaten.
“I think it will take Savannah a while to get over it, she is traumatised. It’s given Hayden a big fright as well.”
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