Toddler almost dies after her mum gives her everyday item

Paramedics have saved the life of a toddler after she had a close brush with death involving a 10 cent coin.

Three-year-old Tilly swallowed the everyday item after her mum, Alison, gave it to her so she could “pay” carpet cleaners when they were finished at their home in Rupanyup, rural Victoria.

To the mother’s horror, Tilly started “gagging and holding her neck”, and nodded when asked if she had swallowed the coin.

“We were getting our carpets cleaned and – like any child – Tilly wanted the money to pay. She kept nagging me to hand her my purse, so I gave her a coin to play with and didn’t think much of it,” Alison told Ambulance Victoria.

The worried mother contacted Nurse on Call, which immediately transferred her to Triple-0. An ambulance was sent out within minutes.

Paramedics Gemma and Kerry worked to keep Tilly calm while they transferred her to hospital.

“They were so wonderful. They could see that Tilly was getting drowsy along the way so one of them started to sing songs trying to keep her alert, and they were both really good with her.

“They gave Tilly a blow-up helicopter to try and calm her down, and she seemed to like that.”

Alison realised the severity of the situation when, as Tilly’s condition worsened, a Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance Paramedic was requested to meet them on their journey.

X-rays taken after her arrival at Wimmera Base Hospital showed the coin lodged in the toddler’s oesophagus, with her requiring emergency surgery to have it removed.

Tilly has since made a full recovery and the coin that was once stuck in her throat now has a place in a specimen jar, which Alison hopes to have made into a necklace for her daughter’s 21st birthday.

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