If you’re still not convinced that vaccines are there to help children, this video will persuade you.
The clip shows a mother trying to help her four-week-old daughter struggling to breathe. Suffering from a whooping cough, the infant is visibly in pain as her parents tried to help.
According to a Mama Mia report, it all started when mom Sandra Tanrikulu received a call from her son’s school.
They warned her that there had been a boy in his son’s class who was suffering from a whooping cough and that their son Lincoln could potentially have it as well.
Sandra and her husband brought Lincoln to the doctors, which confirmed that he did have it.
“We all went on antibiotics, cleaned the house and tried to keep [the children] separate— which is hard because you’ve got a new baby that you’re trying to get your toddler to bond with and get excited about,” she said.
“We were constantly saying—‘leave your sister alone, don’t go near her, don’t cough near her, stay away’—so it’s really hard.”
When four-week-old Heidi started coughing, they first thought it was silent reflux, something that often happened when they fed her.
“But sometimes it’d go on to the point that we’d have to pick her up and have to hit her on her back a little bit—because she was sort-of choking coughing.”
Not taking any chances, they brought her to be examined at the doctors, where they were immediately sent home.
The following day, she started coughing again. This time she went blue and stopped breathing.
“My husband’s a fireman and he threw me out of the way, grabbed her and put her on the floor and went to start CPR,” Sandra recalled. “He put a breath little breath into her, but it was enough to start her breathing.”
Heidi didn’t improve after a few days, and she even started having apneas, so they returned to the hospital.
“The first time it happened nurses and doctors rushed in. At first, oxygen couldn’t get her going, so they all got a bit panicky and got a crash-cart ready to start working on her.
“As a result we couldn’t sleep, as we spent every minute watching her to make sure we didn’t miss a silent episode. We have been taking turns sleeping and watching her.”
Although she’s doing much better now, Heidi is still having episodes at night.
Now Sandra wants other parents not to take her experience for granted.
“Please don’t ignore the warning signs – our baby girl only had a slight cough to start,” she said on her Facebook page. “Please share this to educate more people on the importance of vaccinations.”
According to NSW Health, whooping cough is highly contagious and is spread through coughing.
“Older children and adults can often get whooping cough too and they can pass the infection on to babies,” the website said. “Your baby will have the best protection after they have received all 3 doses—please see immunization for further details.”
READ: Baby Immunization Philippines: What shots does your baby need?
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