Mother warns others after her 10-year-old son collapses following a day at the beach
10-year-old Declan had been playing in the ocean when all of a sudden he told his mom he didn't feel well. Moments later he became "disoriented," collapsed, and began throwing up. Now his mother has a warning for all parents.
After experiencing a frightening day at the Hampton Beach in New Hampshire, one Massachusetts mom is issuing a warning about the dangers of spending time at the ocean.
She started her story explaining that she and her 10-year-old son Declan visited the beach in order to avoid the hot weather and have some fun together.
Declan was playing in the ocean when he suddenly felt nauseated. At first, his mom, Heather Cassini, didn’t think much of it and believed he simply needed to rest in the shade. But she was wrong.
In the Facebook post she wrote, Cassini explained how she thought the breakfast Declan had was too much for the waves and that he was going to be just fine if he laid down, but he suddenly collapsed in the sand.
Declan managed to lift himself up, but shortly after, he tripped and ended up back on the ground.
“I’m pregnant and frantically trying to pick him up,” his mother recalled. “He’s going in and out of consciousness and vomiting. And he was so pale.”
The beachgoers who realized Declan was in need of help flagged down a lifeguard and called 911.
When paramedics arrived, they determined Declan suffered from hypothermia.
“I had no idea that this could happen,” Cassini shared with Today. “You think about sunburns and dehydration and all the things that can happen in the water, but I never considered cold shock.”
Thankfully, Declan fully recovered in the next two hours, but the experience left both him and his mom in distress.
Cassini wanted to alert others about the risk of developing hypothermia, even during the summer months.
“Just a warning to those with kids who feel no cold and love the water. Just because they can handle it doesn’t mean they can handle it,” she wrote.
