A mother is urging parents to ban lollipops from this household this Halloween after her daughter nearly died from choking on a 35p Dip Dab.
Natasha Middleton gave seven-year-old Maisie Brackley the sweet as a reward for doing well in school earlier this month.
But just moments after placing the lolly in her mouth the strawberry flavoured circle came off its stick and got stuck in the back of the little girl’s throat.
Despite desperate attempts to dislodge the lolly it remained trapped, and Maisie started to turn blue before going limp and lifeless.
Thankfully a last-ditch effort of a series of ‘massive blows’ behind her shoulder blades proved successful though the lollipop remains stuck inside Maisie.
Just moments after Maisie Brackley placed the lolly in her mouth the strawberry flavoured circle came off its stick and got stuck in the back of her throat in a life threatening ordeal
Ms Middleton has now banned lollipops from her household and is urging other parents to do the same and not dish them out to young trick-or-treaters this Halloween.
The graphic designer, who lives in Evesham, Worcestershire, said: ’35p nearly killed my daughter. It scares me that it could happen to anybody.’
Recalling the terrifying ordeal the 27-year-old said: ‘I picked her up from school, she had an amazing morning and we went to the local shops and bought what she always buys, a Dip Dab lolly.
‘We got home and unpacked the shopping. I gave her the Dip Dab and she had it in her mouth for less than two minutes.
‘All of a sudden it came off the stick, the red top of the Dip Dab, and lodged in the back of her throat.
‘I saw my daughter go blue. I was seeing her eyes looking at me going, “mum, help”.’
It was at this point her daughter went limp and Ms Middleton called for 999 as her partner tried to dislodge the lolly from Maisie by doing the Heimlich manoeuvre.
This lifesaving technique, which involves uses sharp thrusts below a person’s abdomen to dislodge an object trapped in the airway, was on this occasion unsuccessful.
Her mother Natasha Middleton is now urging parents to ban lollipops from this household this Halloween after her daughter nearly died from choking on the 35p sweet
Ms Middleton said instead that a series of blows between Maisie’s shoulders did the trick clearing her airway though the Dip Dab itself didn’t come up.
”Then [we did] five massive blows between the shoulder blades. By this point she still wasn’t breathing so we were asked if we knew where our nearest defibrillator was. Thankfully it wasn’t needed,’ she said.
Maisie was still rushed to hospital as a precaution, but tests revealed that, apart from the extensive bruises she received during the attempts to save her life, she escaped unscathed.
However, she will need further tests to ensure the Dip Dab, which was still in her stuck in her throat but not blocking her airway, dissolves and doesn’t lead to an infection.
Ms Middleton: ‘It’s in her body still, we can’t get it out. It’s in her body so she’s going to have to pass that at some point. There’s a risk of infection.
‘For four hours after she could still feel it and you could actually see the bulge in her throat.
Valeo Confectionary, the parent company of Barratt who make the Dip Dab lolly, declined to comment
In the Heimlich manoeuvre, a first-aider places their arms around the choking person from behind, and pull upwards and inwards on the abdomen below the ribcage
‘Even though she was at the point where she could breathe, you could still see this in her throat. You could see it every time she coughed. You could see it move up.
‘Thankfully we can’t see it anymore and she’s saying she can’t feel anything in her throat.
‘She’s very sore at the moment so we’ve got to go back and she’s got to have an x-ray and an MRI.’
These scans will ensure none of her bones were broken as a result of the force used during the desperate attempts to manually dislodge the sweet.
Ms Middleton said she felt tremendous guilt over what Maisie had gone through and is urging other parents to think twice about giving children lollipops.
‘It’s the most harrowing and unpleasant experience to ever go through and horrifying. It’s literally like being in a nightmare right there and then,’ she said.
‘It scares me that you can go to the supermarket and buy a pack of lollies for about 99p with about 15 in them which are slightly bigger and more delicate to come off the stick.
‘It gives me the shivers but also makes me angry that these are allowed to be on sale.
‘It’s making me as a parent a lot more aware. I’m looking at things like “that’s too big”. I’ll be like that for the rest of her life. That treat nearly cost my daughter’s life.’
Maisie was still rushed to hospital as a precaution, but tests revealed that, apart from the extensive bruises she received during the attempts to save her life, she escaped unscathed
Ms Middleton is urging parents and Brits in general to be particularly vigilant for the upcoming Halloween and what sweets are being dished out to children trick-or-treating
She is urging parents and Brits in general to be particularly vigilant for the upcoming Halloween and what sweets are being dished out to children trick-or-treating.
‘People are going to be giving these sweets over Halloween. You can’t stop that at the end of the day,’ she said.
‘You can’t stop that at the end of the day but be vigilant about the sweets you’re giving out, especially with young children.
‘My advice to parents is to always check what’s in their pumpkin bag or what they’re carrying. Please look and be safe about what sweets you are giving children.
‘Never allow a child to start eating the sweets while they’re out and about. Wait until you get home and double check those sweets.
‘If you’re not comfortable with those sweets and have any second thoughts, throw them away.’
Ms Middleton also said to always watch a child when they’re eating sweets and for parents to learn child first aid.
‘Thankfully I was sitting right next to her. If she was in her bedroom she would’ve died,’ she said.
‘We would not have heard her and we would have found her dead. That horrifies me and scares me.
‘Thankfully we’ve been on a paediatric first aid course because we’ve got a baby now. So many parents have not done basic first aid.’
‘That’s the message I want to get out is please don’t think that this will never happen to you. We were one of these people.
Valeo Confectionary, the parent company of Barratt who make the Dip Dab lolly, which is commonly referred to as a Dib Dab, declined to comment.
