Mother Left Heartbroken After Thumbtack Claims Life Of 4-Year-Old Son

Parents are often advised to keep little things away from toddlers, aware of the hazards they bring. Thumbtacks are something that most would usually put out of reach of infants. But for some reason, a four-year-old child got hold of one and eventually died from it.

Ayla Rutherford is left heartbroken following the untimely death of her child. Her four-year-old son inhaled a thumbtack on the day of his brother’s birthday and eventually died after he was brought to the hospital.

According to reports, Rutherford was getting the birthday cake of her other son and took a shower. To her shock, it was a short break that she would dread forever.

Her sons were playing at that time with her husband looking over them. But she was shocked to hear screaming, only to find out that her son (Axel) had accidentally inhaled a thumbtack.

When she went down, she saw her husband trying to apply Heimlich, applying upward pressure on the upper abdomen to force a foreign object from the trachea. That effort proved useless with the four-year-old losing consciousness. Axel was rushed to the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma.

Doctors found that Axel did not choke but inhaled the drawing pin and this had pierced through his left lung. This was why he was no longer able to breathe.

The four-year-old was placed on life-support and tests done on the child showed he was brain dead. It was an unfortunate loss and now both parents are calling on others to be more vigilant especially when it comes to pins and thumbtacks.

“If you have pins around the house, throw them out or lock them up. It’s not worth your child’s life or pain. My husband and I held Axel as he passed away. He was four years old, one month, and four days old. I don’t want anybody to have to go through this,” Ayla stated.