A Quebec mother’s instinct saved the life of her newborn baby, who nearly died after contracting a flu on Christmas Day.
The holidays represent relaxation and vacations for many Quebecers, but it is rather the anguish and the horror that awaited the family of Stéphanie Bélanger and Marco Parente this year. Even if it had been put in “quarantine” at the home, their one-month-old baby James started showing some flu symptoms on the evening of December 25. The next day, the couple from Terrebonne ended up taking him to the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
At home
But after 10 hours in the emergency room and a few tests, the doctor told them to go home while continuing to monitor his temperature and appetite.
“I wish there was more monitoring and testing by the doctor,” said the father. I admit that I don’t understand how he got through the flu. They did an x-ray which was beautiful, I understand, but the child was clearly not going. I’m not a doctor, so I trusted him. ”
When they woke up, the symptoms had changed: his complexion was bluish, he refused to eat, and his skin was cold to the touch.
Considering the fact that they had just returned from the hospital with the doctor’s blessing, her husband thought it best to bathe the baby and allow some time to pass before returning. But Ms. Bélanger knew that nothing was right with her baby.
A saving 911
“I didn’t know it at the time, but while I was going to give James a bath, my wife called 911. In the end, she saved our child’s life. Two or three more hours and he didn’t survive, ”says Parente.
When he arrived at Pierre-Le Gardeur hospital, young James already had labored and jerky breathing.
“He was on the verge of death,” sums up the father. The doctors therefore intubated him before sending him urgently to intensive care in Sainte-Justine, where he was placed on an artificial respirator.
“He’s still in a pitiful state, it’s hard to see him like that, still intubated and on a respirator. My wife is completely traumatized by this experience. We lived the horror, “breathes Marco Parente.
The worst being avoided, he and his wife now want to share a message to Quebecers: “Trust your parenting instinct and judgment. That’s what saved our son’s life. ”
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