Busted singer Charlie Simpson is spreading awareness about secondary drowning on social media after his son Jago had a 'terrifying' incident in a swimming pool.
The 37-year-old musician described the moment he realised his youngest song Jago, who he described as a 'strong swimmer', started showing the symptoms of secondary drowning, which occurs when a person inhales water that eventually accumulates in their lungs.
In a lengthy Instagram caption accompanying an image of the four-year-old in a hospital bed, Charlie wrote: "We were on holiday enjoying a morning in the pool.
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"Jago is a strong swimmer for his age and he was swimming under water but suddenly came up [sputtering] and coughing. At no point was he left unattended, It was momentary, nothing seemingly unusual for kids to experience. "We got him out and he seemed fine and happy and was completely normal for the rest of the day."
Jago's condition took a turn for the worst later in the evening, however, as Charlie described having to call a doctor to get to the root of the health issue unfolding.
He continued: "At dinner he became very lethargic and went to sleep in my wife’s arms. After dinner he suddenly woke up and started projectile vomiting. We called a doctor immediately who initially diagnosed it as as food poisoning and advised that we put Jago to bed in our hotel room and keep an eye on him."
After the diagnosis, Charlie remembered reading about secondary drowning and asked the doctor about the condition.
"Before the doctor left, I suddenly remembered Jago coughing in the pool that morning and I remembered reading about a condition called secondary drowning, so I relayed it to the doctor. After hearing this, his demeanour changed and he told us to go to A&E straight away."
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The youngster was 'in and out of consciousness' during the trip to A&E. "During the hour long journey to hospital, Jago’s condition deteriorated and he seemed to be drifting in and out of consciousness.
"He was rushed through to have CT scans and X-Rays and to our absolute horror, we were told that he had water in his lungs and was minutes away from pneumonia."
Charlie, who is married to Anna Barnard, thanked the doctors for taking care of their son. "Jago was diagnosed with secondary drowning. He spent the next three days in hospital and I’m so thankful for the amazing care he received.
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"It was the worst thing we have ever experienced. The scariest thing of all, is that had we not taken him to hospital when we did, the outcome could have been very different."
The band frontman said he hopes to spread awareness to avoid other parents and children suffering similar incidents. "After doing a lot of research, secondary drowning is seemingly quite rare but even so, not talked about. It takes less than half a glass of inhaled water to drown. Symptoms can start as long as 72 hours after the event which can make them hard to diagnose. These include vomiting, fever, laboured breathing and lethargy.
"I truly hope no one ever has to experience this but I hope to be able to raise some awareness of this frightening condition in case they do."
Gregory Robinson