A MUM has described the terrifying moment her son woke from a nap fighting for his life.
Little Arlo had been unwell through the night, violently throwing up, and had a snooze in the morning of May 8, 2022.
He had gone in for a cuddle with his mum, Sadie Osborne, 30, when he woke up.
But something wasn't right, as Arlo seemed “disorientated” and had a temperature.
Sadie, who lives in Penzance, Cornwall, realised that her two-year-old's breathing had quickened.
Before she knew it, her little boy's eyes were rolled to the back of his head and he had a seizure.
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Sadie, a self-employed holiday property manager said: “I stood up with him to go for help when he came out of it, he looked at me and I started to speak to him before he went into a second seizure.
“Again, his eyes rolled back and his back was bent as far as it could go. I ran outside screaming to my dad, Charlie, for help. My dad held him while I called 999.”
After the second seizure, he became “floppy” and turned blue while they spoke to an emergency services controller.
Sadie said: “It seemed like the longest, shortest time of my life if that makes any sense.
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“It went so fast and felt like I was watching my little boy die – yet it was the longest thing I could ever watch.
“As my dad went to lay Arlo down on the ground he just said ‘he's gone floppy’.
“At this point the 999 controller was asking all these questions which I know they absolutely have to do but I couldn't listen, I just needed her to tell me what to do.
“I started screaming at her ‘he's gone floppy, he's blue, he's not breathing, help me he's dying’.
“In that moment I just wanted to die, I knew that if he truly was gone, I could not live a second longer with the pain.
“It was the worst pain I've ever experienced, the thought that my baby was dead.”
Sadie began performing CPR on Arlo as his grandparents shaded him from the sun.
She said: “At that moment I was instantly calm because I had been told what I had to do to help him.
“The operator on the phone was absolutely amazing, they talked me through everything and even counted for me while I performed CPR.
“I honestly couldn't tell you how long this all went on for, I just remember Arlo starting to push my hands away as I did chest compressions on him.”
Sadie managed to get Arlo breathing again moments before the first responder arrived with a defibrillator.
They took both mum and son to the hospital where they stayed for 24 hours.
It is believed that Arlo suffered from a Febrile seizure – which can happen if a child aged between six months and three years has a fever.
Most of the time these seizures are harmless, the NHS says, but parents may want to take precuation and call for an ambulance.
Sadie says she is currently waiting for an appointment for Arlo to be checked further as his episode has been described as “unusual”.
The memories of the incident still haunt Sadie.
Sadie said: "I felt mad at myself because he was alive and getting better, yet I couldn't stop these horrible feelings and flashbacks.
“I'd be driving and just see his blue face and lifeless body on the floor or hear my dad say he's floppy and hear my relentlessly screaming and reliving the moment I thought he was dead.
“However, Arlo is doing amazing, as always. He's happy and healthy and that is the most important thing.”
Grandparents Charlie and Kerry Osborne's told how the incident changed their lives.
Posting on a GoFundMe page they said: "We all really believed he had died. It was terrifying. He was laid on the floor completely lifeless.
"The first thing the 999 controller said was to go and get the nearest defibrillator while Sadie performed CPR on him.
"Of course we all knew there wasn't one close enough to get.
“However fortunately Sadie had got him breathing seconds before the first responder arrived with his defibrillator."
The family are now trying to raise money to get a device installed in their village of Sancreed.
They need to raise £2,000 to buy the item, along with the protective case that comes with it. So far, they have raised £1,140.
Once they have raised the funds, it will be installed outside the village hall.
Defibrillators are a key piece of first aid kit and they can be often found at transportation points such as bus and train stations.
The government has spent at least £2million paying for them to be installed at sports centres, GP surgeries, shopping centres and village halls.
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If you need to locate one quickly you should phone 999 and ask where the nearest one is located.
Defibrillator machines deliver an electric shock to restart the heart if a patient goes into cardiac arrest.
How do you use a defibrillator?
Using a defibrillator before an ambulance arrives doubles the patient’s chance of survival.
St John Ambulance says anyone can use an AED with no training.
The machine analyses the patient's heart rhythm and uses visual or voice prompts to guide you through each step.
The first aid charity has the following advice:
- First, make sure someone has called an ambulance. Begin CPR until someone can bring you an AED
- Switch on the AED. Follow the visual and verbal prompts until the ambulance arrives or someone with more experience takes over
- Take the pads out of the sealed pack. Remove or cut through any clothing and wipe away any sweat from the chest
- Remove the backing paper and attach the pads to the chest lengthways (in line with the body)
- The first pad goes on the upper right side of the chest, just below the collarbone
- The second pad goes on the left, just below the armpit
- The AED will start checking the heart rhythm. Make sure no one is touching the patient or they may get a shock
- Continue to follow the machine's prompts until help arrives
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