5.27.2009

Can't Be Contained

I am beyond angry, beyond heart broken, beyond distressed and shaking with emotion.  Elaina Redding was two years old when she died last week.  The button battery that she swallowed remained in her esophagus for ten hours before it killed her.  For Hazel, the battery remained in her esophagus for six days.  Elaina's doctor did a chest x-ray after her mother reported that her daughter had been coughing up blood.  After Hazel's second admission to the hospital following respiritory distress and an episode of coughing up bright red blood, we were told that it couldnt be blood, and that the doctor "wasn't even going to look in [her] throat".  

This poor child, beautiful baby, loved by her family, supposed to live forever, was taken out of this life by something that Hazel and I grazed by.  Something hard, hot, corrosive and terrible brushed us as it moved by and settled in with another family chosen at random.  I don't know if there is a way to express my horror and my sadness.  Please think of this perfect child- running, intact, cool, smooth, alive.

3 comments:

Jaymee said...

sending you all hugs and love, while sitting here with tears on my face.

Anonymous said...

Hello Here is a little bit of a better story about Elaina Redding. It actually happened May 2nd and she bled to death almost 3 weeks later. Im very close to the family and poor little Elaina was laid to rest yesterday and it was a horible thing i hope another family doesnt have to ever deal with! http://www.kdvr.com/video/?autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3809345

Also im very glad your baby is ok after so much fight.

Anonymous said...

this is tragic. thinking of your family, and the family of beautiful elaina. wishing no more families must feel such pain. (((hugs)))