Relationships1 min(s) read
Published 08:45 17 Oct 2020 GMT
A mom has taken to Facebook to share a warning for all parents - or anybody who has children in the house - after she tragically woke up one morning to find that her son had passed away over the night.
It is every parent's worst nightmare, but Jennifer Ranger of British Columbia was determined share her heartbreaking story in the hope that it would save the lives of other children.
Jennifer starts the post with a "trigger warning", and then explains: "My son would be 11. He would have celebrated his 11th birthday on July 1st. While the entire nation is celebrating, I'm silently grieving."
[[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10158846105945214&set=pcb.10158846104180214]]
Recalling the perfectly normal evening of October 16, 2008, the mom writes: "I put my 2-year-old son to bed in his big boy bed which was pushed up against the wall, complete with a bed rail on the side open to the room. I tucked him in and said goodnight.
"I checked on him at 1 am and saw him sleeping soundly facing the bed rail but still in the middle of the bed. I went to sleep myself.
"A little after 8 am, I woke up and went downstairs. He wasn't stirring yet so I took the time to put the coffee on and go to the bathroom."
However, Jennifer's world would then come crashing down, as she decided to check-in on her son.
"I went into his room to wake him and he wasn't in his bed. As I looked for him, I quickly started to panic and then found him between his bed and his wall, with just his head above the mattress.
"I pulled the bed away and grabbed him only to find every parent's worst nightmare."
[[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10164048758240214&set=pcb.10158846104180214]]
Jennifer explains that her two-year-old son had passed away at approximately 3:00 AM as a result of positional asphyxiation.
She explains: "In layman terms, he became wedged between his bed and the wall and was unable to free himself."
Per Crisis Prevention, positional asphyxiation (or positional asphyxia) is "a deadly condition that can occur when a person being restrained can’t get enough oxygen. This lack of oxygen can lead to disturbances in the rhythm of the heart."
Like every mom out there, Jennifer says that she thought she was doing everything she could to keep her son safe - having both a baby monitor and a bed rail installed in her son's room.
"Everyone I knew (my own parents included) had pushed their young children's beds up against the walls," she explains.
Jennifer continues: "I can still remember the stinging guilt that hit me when the coroner released the report and my son's cause of death was 'positional asphyxiation secondary to unsafe sleeping arrangements'.
Explaining why she chose to share her story, Jennifer writes: "In light of a recent PSA about baby blankets, I felt like I should tell our story.
"If it saves just one child's life, I will be thankful."
She concludes her heartbreaking post by writing: "Please, make sure your young child's bed is at least 12 inches from other pieces of furniture or walls in their room.
"It may not be aesthetically pleasing, but it is the safest way.
"He was 2. He could climb stairs up and down, he could build towers out of blocks and chase birds, and was learning to swim. You never think it can happen to your child."
[[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/jennifer.ranger.710/posts/10158846104180214]]
Since sharing her post in July of 2017, it has received over 82,000 shares on Facebook, and over 20,000 comments - many of which are from well-wishers and people tagging their own friends to let them know about the family's story.
There is no doubt Jennifer's story will have helped save lives.
