Survival of the Youngest
Another tragedy on a national scale. The life of one vulnerable young child extinguished by unanticipated circumstances. Should one give special heed through incessant vigilance to the well-being of an infant, a child? Most certainly yes, anyone would agree that this is necessary, for infants and children are innocent of danger and have no idea how to fend for themselves. Place a child in a crib or a playpen, surrounded by soft, high-piled quilts and if that infant rolls onto its stomach to sleep, it can perish through suffocation.
Permit a 7-year-old autistic child to be outside the home on his own at a time of year when the weather is instantly changeable, and he is inadequately clad as well as monitored, and anything can happen. The child whose medical condition results in his being unable to communicate may also not understand how vulnerable he is to circumstances well beyond his control for he has no idea of his control or lack of it. His attention is captured by something and he wanders far from safety.
The news wires quickly picked up the story of little James Delorey who wandered from his backyard in South Bar, Nova Scotia, the family dog accompanying him. Two days later searchers discovered him, snuggled for shelter in a wooded setting a mere one and a half kilometres from his home. His pulse was weak, he was suffering from hypothermia, for the temperature had dropped below freezing overnight,;he was clad lightly with no outerwear, and there had been a snow blizzard.
A spokesman for Nova Scotia's Emergency Health Services spoke of the child's survival - though he was in hospital in critical condition - as "nothing short of a miracle". "It's highly unusual for someone to survive in the woods without winter gear, especially with the weather conditions we've been experiencing in the last couple of days" he said, noting too that the child's condition was life-threatening.
Well, that miracle collapsed upon itself. Cruelly, and most finally. The child died while in hospital care, his physical condition closer to death than to life. Medical science can do just so much. Pity his family.
Permit a 7-year-old autistic child to be outside the home on his own at a time of year when the weather is instantly changeable, and he is inadequately clad as well as monitored, and anything can happen. The child whose medical condition results in his being unable to communicate may also not understand how vulnerable he is to circumstances well beyond his control for he has no idea of his control or lack of it. His attention is captured by something and he wanders far from safety.
The news wires quickly picked up the story of little James Delorey who wandered from his backyard in South Bar, Nova Scotia, the family dog accompanying him. Two days later searchers discovered him, snuggled for shelter in a wooded setting a mere one and a half kilometres from his home. His pulse was weak, he was suffering from hypothermia, for the temperature had dropped below freezing overnight,;he was clad lightly with no outerwear, and there had been a snow blizzard.
A spokesman for Nova Scotia's Emergency Health Services spoke of the child's survival - though he was in hospital in critical condition - as "nothing short of a miracle". "It's highly unusual for someone to survive in the woods without winter gear, especially with the weather conditions we've been experiencing in the last couple of days" he said, noting too that the child's condition was life-threatening.
Well, that miracle collapsed upon itself. Cruelly, and most finally. The child died while in hospital care, his physical condition closer to death than to life. Medical science can do just so much. Pity his family.
Labels: Human Fallibility, Life's Like That, Security
posted by Pieface | 7:15 PM
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