An Aussie mum has taken to social media to share an x-ray of a grape stuck in the airway of a five-year-old boy.
Angela Henderson, who runs parenting blog Finlee and Me, borrowed the frightening image from a pediatrician in the hopes of raising awareness about choking hazards. It immediately went viral and has since been shared over 27,000 times and received more than 3,200 comments.
“Do you know what this X-ray is of? A grape! A grape that was lodged in the top of a five-year-old’s airway today,” she wrote alongside the confronting pic.
“This sweet soul had to be operated on, under general anaesthetic to remove the grape. He is VERY lucky that part of his airway was open or else this could have ended badly.”
She added: “Please be careful. And when in doubt just cut the damn grapes, baby tomatoes etc.”
The upload, which was originally post last year and is once again going viral, has left parenting from around the world reeling at the reality that something so simple could be so deadly.
“Oh my gosh I need to start cutting up grapes,” one mum wrote, adding: “Just never knew they could be lodged like this. Thank you so much.”
Another shared: “I have had a bad experience with a grape with my granddaughter i always cut them in half now…”
It follows the death of a three-year-old boy who died earlier this month when he choked on a bouncy ball.
Alby Davis was playing with party favours ahead of his fourth birthday party, when the ball became lodged in his windpipe and stopped him from breathing at his home in Wynyard, Tasmania.
His mother, Anna, did all that she could to to dislodge the ball but despite her efforts he choked to death “in a matter of seconds.”
Anna, who is expecting her fourth child, has since posted a tribute to her little son on her company Instagram account, The Small Folk — a business specialising in educational games for children.
“Yesterday afternoon, our beautiful, beautiful Alby, our darling baby boy, grew wings and flew from this earth,” she captioned the post, which showed the youngster in a golden-coloured t-shirt smiling toward the camera.
She added: “Minutes pass like hours and the gaping hole in our lives and hearts is completely incomprehensible. We adore you beyond belief, our sweet little fox. Forever three, forever free.”
A GoFundMe page was setup by a family friend to to assist the family, who live in Wynyard Tasmania, as they grieve and await the arrival of their fourth child. Anna is self-employed and her husband, Simon, is a relief teacher and isn’t entitled to paid leave.
The page has raised over $265,000 in donations — far eclipsing the initial $100,000 goal.
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