Girl, 4, dies after choking on chicken nugget
A four-year-old girl has died after choking while eating a chicken nugget.
Rebecca Rayane da Silva Pereira, from Sao Paulo in Brazil, was having dinner with her family when she choked on her food on October 23.
She had been eating chicken nuggets, together with some beans and rice, when she suddenly started struggling to breathe.
Her father, Diego Alves Pereira, told local media he was at work at the time but his wife and their seven-year-old son were at home.
"My wife tried to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre on her, but she couldn't do it and she called the neighbour,” he said.
They rushed Rebecca to hospital, but she was tragically declared dead on arrival.
The devastated father said his daughter was born prematurely at 33 weeks with oesophageal atresia, a birth defect of the swallowing tube, which gave her difficulties when eating and caused her to choke on her food at times.
At just two weeks old, Rebecca had undergone two surgeries on her oesophagus.
Doctors told Mr Pereira his daughter would be unable to speak. However, she surprised everyone by starting to form words at the age of one.
"The first word she said was 'daddy'. Since she learnt to speak, she didn't go a day without praying. The biggest lesson she gave us was prayer,” he said.
"It will be difficult now. She was such a smart kid with so much to live for and loved by everyone."
- with Australscope
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