Baby Dies From Swallowing A Pistachio Nut Shell

A baby who swallowed a pistachio nut shell without anyone knowing, died from suffocation after the struggle for her life.

According to Daily Mail;

A seven-month-old baby died after choking to death on a pistachio nutshell which paramedics did not remove, an inquest has heard. Gauravdeep Bassi had been crawling on the living room floor when he accidentally picked up the dropped shell and put it in his mouth. His mother Rajwinder Kaur, 37, of West Bromwich, West Midlands, immediately called for an ambulance as her son struggled for breath. But when paramedics arrived after three minutes on March 17 last year they did not even try to remove the shell which was lodged in the child’s throat, Smethwick Coroner’s Court heard. He died after being transferred to Sandwell General Hospital with the object still obstructing his airway. 

‘I did not know it was a nutshell – I just knew he had put something in his mouth. I called for an ambulance.’Mrs Kaur said before crews had arrived she and other members of the family had tried to dislodge the object by patting her son on the back more than 21 minutes before he died.

Pathologist Tamas Morton said his life could have been saved if an emergency tracheotomy had been carried out en route to the hospital.Giving evidence on Monday, Mrs Kaur said she had been in the house with her sister and nephew and were all in the same room together. She added: ‘I was cleaning away toys at the time and I do not know when the baby got down on the floor. No-one saw him pick up the shell. I heard his breathing and knew something was wrong.

The inquest was told crews may ‘not have been fully aware of the situation’ and the shell had not been removed until arrival at hospital. But attempts to revive the youngster were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at Sandwell Hospital. Mr Morton told the hearing: ‘All of my observations show there was no underlying medical condition.

‘However any findings in cases such as this are not specific so in this case I have to rely on circumstantial evidence. I would give the medical cause of death as accidental airway obstruction.

Source: Daily Mail UK