Mum’s desperate bid to save tragic baby girl from choking after getting entangled in window-blinds at Cork home
A YEAR-old baby girl died yesterday after getting entangled in a window-blinds cord in her suburban home.
Leah Troy was resting in her cot and when her mum Alice went to check on her she found her with the twine caught around her neck.
The child was unconscious and the distraught mother rang the emergency services seeking help.
Paramedics and gardai rushed to the house — in Dublin Hill on Cork city’s northside — at lunchtime.
Alice called neighbours for help and tried to revive her baby girl as she waited for medics to arrive, which they did within a short time.
The little girl was treated at the scene by paramedics who also tried desperately to revive her before taking her by ambulance to Cork University Hospital.
In order that they would get there as fast as possible, officers at Garda stations along the route were alerted and told to stop traffic.
Alice and her husband, Michael, Leah’s dad, were with the tot at her bedside as she was pronounced dead shortly after 1pm. The family had celebrated Leah’s first birthday just last month.
A neighbour said: “This is a shocking tragedy. Alice, who has another child who is about four, just doted on her little daughter.
“She stayed at home to be with her and she is a very caring and loving person. We just can’t believe little Leah is dead.
“She was always happy and smiling. All we can do is pray for the family.”
The distraught couple were being comforted by family and friends last night.
A post-mortem exam will be carried out today. Gardai are treating the death as a tragic and freak accident and a file will be prepared for the Cork City Coroner’s Court. An inquest will follow at a later stage.
There have been a number of tragic incidents in which other children have died after getting entangled in cords from window and
Venetian blinds. Over the past few years, young kids have died in Cork, Kilkenny and Dublin.
Just four years ago, little Roisin Redmond, two, from Graiguenamanagh in Co Kilkenny, died after getting caught in a blinds cord.
Her mother Lynda later appealed to parents to be aware of the dangers they present to young children.
She said: “Maybe I can save someone’s life by talking about this.
“If this can happen to us, it can happen to anyone. If ten people check their blinds, then I’ve made a difference.”
The most recent similar tragedy was in 2016 when a 17-month-old boy died after getting entangled in a cord while taking a nap in his Dublin home.
most read in news
At an inquest in 2010, the coroner heard that since 2005, three children a year had died from strangulation after getting caught up in window-blinds strings.
A Garda spokeswoman said: “We’re investigating a sudden death incident that occurred at a house in Dublin Hill, Co Cork, on September 11, 2018, at approximately 1pm.
“An infant was brought to Cork University Hospital where she pronounced dead a short time later.”