We often hear about stories of children choking on household items and certain common foods. But this story is unlike any of those; this Wichita child choked on a bizarre thing.
Baby octopus—and it wasn’t an accidental choking, too.
According to East Idaho News, the mother of the two-year-old boy came home from work to find her boyfriend giving her son CPR.
The boy had stopped breathing.
Emergency workers rushed the boy to a nearby hospital where doctors discovered a two-inch baby octopus lodged inside the boy's throat.
It doesn't end there.
The doctors also found several injuries on the boy’s face.
Neighbors told the reporters that they saw the police at the victim’s house the night before, and were stunned to hear about the allegations of abuse from the house nextdoor.
“I teach a lot of swim lessons with a lot of kids,” said neighbor Mitchell Wagner, “and it’s shocking how someone could do that to kid it’s just strange the situation.”
Police records show that 36-year-old Matthew Gallagher, the boyfriend of the boy’s mother, has been booked into jail and is facing child abuse charges.
Signs of child abuse
Unfortunately, child abuse happens far too often and parents aren’t even aware of it until significant harm has already been done.
According to Safe Horizons, typical signs of child abuse include behavioral changes such as anxiety, depression, aggression or withdrawal, not wanting to go home, or appearing afraid of certain individuals.
Other signs include changes in sleeping patterns, frequent nightmares, difficulty sleeping, as well as changes in school performance.
“If you suspect that a child is being abused, or if a child confides in you that they have been hurt or harmed by someone, it's important to keep calm and tell the child you believe them.”
It’s also important to call the authorities at this point to make sure no further harm is done to the child.
READ: Helpless baby is physically abused, recorded on video by suspects
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