A mum has shared a photo of her sleeping daughter suffering from heatstroke to Facebook, to let other parents know it can occur even inside the house.
Jennifer Abma experienced “the scariest moment” when she went to wake up her little girl from a nap, and found she couldn’t rouse her.
Jennifer’s daughter Anastasia had gone for a nap, and Jennifer didn’t realise that her bedroom had become extremely hot. When the mum came in to wake the toddler, she found her “soaked in sweat, red face and boiling”.
Jennifer called an ambulance and desperately tried to rouse the toddler in the meantime.
"It took us 20 minutes to wake her up when the ambulance came. They came with investigators because they didn't know what to expect,” the young mum explained.
"The ambulance arrived faster than I could have ever imagined and took her sugars, which were 1.2 and should be above 4.
"They administered sucrose, and in minutes she started crying, clearly scared.”
Emergency services informed an upset Jennifer that the tot had suffered severe heatstroke due to the heat of her bedroom.
Jennifer explains: “No, it is not my fault this happened to her, but it is hard not to blame yourself. This is a lesson learnt, and hopefully other parents can take something from this and make sure you are checking the rooms in your house, because they can be as dangerous as a hot car.
“She was probably minutes from the worst outcome, and I am thankful she’s here for us to share the story in hopes of saving another child.
“Still, I'm shook; and I can't imagine what would have happened if I didn't go check on her. We definitely had God on our side yesterday, and I am thankful for emergency services and Jay who came as fast as possible to keep me together.”
Jennifer’s post has since been shared over 46,000 times to raise awareness about the dangers of heatstroke.
It’s a timely warning to keep an eye on the temperature of your children’s rooms during warm weather. If you think your child’s bedroom is too warm, use a fan to cool it down or open a window.
We are glad to hear little Anastasia was OK, and we hope Jennifer is recovering from the awful ordeal.
