Mum's panic when 2-year-old swallows Troll doll
Melanie Huggett, 33, Alice River, Qld
'Can we watch a movie, Mummy?’ my eldest daughter, Millie, four, asked sweetly. Every day for the past six months, my girl had asked the same question.
Obsessed with the Trolls movie, it was all she, and my youngest girl, Eloise, two, wanted to watch.
Sitting down for a bite to eat one evening, my husband, Justin, 40, and I could see the girls in the lounge room. Quietly playing in front of the TV, it was a normal night in our household.
Then I heard a noise that made my blood run cold. Eloise was choking! Leaping out of our chairs, we raced to help our baby girl. In her hand I noticed the bright pink tuft of hair from one of Millie’s trolls. But the body was nowhere to be seen.
That’s when I realised she’d swallowed the figurine.
Although I was panicked, Justin remained calm. Placing her over his knee, he whacked between her shoulder blades to help dislodge the toy. When Eloise let out a cry, we knew the doll had passed through her airways.
‘She’s going to be okay,’ I reassured Justin as I frantically dialled Triple-0.
Within minutes, paramedics arrived to assess Eloise.
‘You’re lucky it was plastic and not a battery or coin,’ the officer admitted. Still, he recommended that we take her to the ER, just to be sure she was okay.
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There, doctors checked her breathing and took an X-ray to determine where the toy was. Incredibly, it had moved down into her stomach in the space of an hour.
‘She shouldn’t have any problems passing the doll naturally,’ the doctor said.
Thankfully, 16 hours later, it was out.
We’ve since gotten rid of Millie’s smaller troll dolls, though she’s not fussed. It’s a small price to pay for peace of mind for our girls!
This and more real Aussie stories in Issue 23, 2017 of that's life!
