When a mom got close to her little boy, she noticed his breath didn’t smell right. Recognizing the odor, she looked at the baby’s father in horror as she quickly realized what had happened — and immediately called 911.
Two unnamed New Haven parents were arrested after first-responders had to rush their unconscious one-and-a-half-year-old little boy to the pediatric emergency department at Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut, on a Tuesday afternoon. The sudden emergency all stemmed from what the mother smelled on her 18-month-old son’s breath while home with the boy and his father, which prompted her to call 911.
According to what the parents told police, they noticed that their baby had begun acting oddly — as if he was high — while they were home with the boy at their Brookside/West Hills apartment. After acting “off,” the child fell unconscious. It was then that the mother noticed that her son’s breath didn’t smell right. She quickly recognized the odor. It was PCP. She immediately knew what had happened and that her son desperately needed medical attention.
The parents realized that their child had swallowed a cigarette laced with PCP, which had been left within the boy’s reach. Realizing the immediate, life-threatening danger the toddler was in, his parents called 911 just before 1 pm to report the accidental overdose. EMTs arrived, and thankfully, they found the boy was breathing on his own and had a pulse. He was quickly rushed to the nearby hospital for treatment.
His parents not only admitted to the child ingesting PCP, but the baby’s 28-year-old father also admitted to investigators that the drug-laced cigarette was his. He was arrested and charged with injury to a minor. The child’s 27-year-old mother, who admitted that the “drugged cigarette” was left in the child’s reach at their apartment, was also arrested and faced the same charge. In addition, the father was also charged with possession of narcotics, Fox 61 reported.
As for their son — because his parents didn’t hesitate to get him help, even though they knew it would lead to exposing their own crimes — his condition quickly improved at the hospital. The day following the incident, he was listed as stable. He was conscious, continued to breathe on his one, and was expected to make a full recovery. Police did not release the parents’ names because it would identify the victim, according to WTVR.
“What did impress me was, even though these things don’t happen day-to-day, the fact that the mother phoned for help. And, they didn’t just say, ‘Oh, he’s sick.’ They admitted there was PCP on his breath,” New Haven Public Information Officer David B. Hartman explained. “So, you have a couple of really irresponsible people, who were still responsible enough to own up to the situation.”
While the parents should be rightfully faulted for not only doing drugs but also leaving the dangerous substances within their child’s reach, Officer Hartman has a valid point. All too often, these stories end much differently as degenerate, drug-addicted parents try to save their own skin rather than save their child’s life. In this case, they called for help and admitted to their crime in order for their son to get the life-saving treatment he needed. That should be commended, even though it is their fault the boy was in the condition he was in.
Hopefully, his parents learned a valuable lesson about their drug use. It’s not really a “victimless crime” as some would like us to believe. Their son was a victim of their poor choices, and he could have paid with his life. Should another “accident” caused by his parents’ carelessness occur, the boy may not be so lucky to come out of it alive the next time. We pray his mother and father — as well as authorities and child protective services — realize this and take the appropriate steps.
Source: Tap Worthy Happenings
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