A mourning mother’s urgent warning: childproof your home
- Replies 7
[CONTENT WARNING: This story contains distressing themes, including the death of a child.]
It was a Thursday like any other.
It was May 26, 2022, and lunchtime was fast approaching. Mihaela Baicans, 27, was preparing her family’s meal in the kitchen of her fourth-floor apartment.
‘I opened the door that goes straight to the balcony and I opened the window for fresh air.’ Mihaela said.
Her husband, Alex, 32, and their fifteen-month-old boy Zayn, were together in the living room.
‘For a moment, Zayn left, and his dad thought he came into the kitchen.’
As Mihaela went on preparing their food, the exhaust fan droned on — drowning out any sounds Zayn might have made.
And then, someone — probably a neighbour, in hindsight — shouted something the couple would never forget: ‘A child has fallen!’
‘I heard such a strong noise and instantly started to shake. I remember feeling shocked and a paralysed emotion crept from head to toe.’ she recalled.
‘My first instinct was to check to see where he was and then I heard someone screaming loudly…’
Fearing for the worst, Mihaela and Alex rushed outside to find a scene any parent would pray never to see: Zayn lying crumpled four stories down, unconscious.
‘I ran down the stairs screaming and I saw him on the ground,’ Mihaela said.
In the short seconds that might as well have been aeons for Mihaela, she pieced together what happened.
Zayn had climbed on top of his favourite toy car, got on their flat’s window sill, managed to get through a mosquito net, and fell.
‘I screamed for 10 minutes straight until the ambulance came. I don’t know who called the ambulance - it was probably the guy who said that he fell.’
Zayn was immediately rushed to a hospital, where doctors eventually put him in an induced coma.
After, he was transferred to a children’s hospital. There, Mihaela and Alex waited for any improvements in his condition.
‘At the hospital, I stood there in disbelief. I was numb.’ Mihaela said.
‘I found out he was in stage four coma with minimal chances of survival.’
Hours into their wait, Mihaela was allowed to see her son. Alex followed after a day. Sadly, no good news met the pair.
Zayn developed a large blood clot spanning his brain from the fall, and only ventilators were keeping him alive.
‘I already saw all the signs that he was not showing any improvements,’ said Mihaela.
‘His eyes started to open, and they were lifeless.’
And then on May 29, at 1:30 in the morning, doctors told Mihaela her son’s heart had stopped beating.
Zayn was pronounced dead shortly after.
While in mourning, Mihaela also wants other parents to learn from her family’s tragic ordeal.
She said: ‘My main message is to childproof their homes until their kids start to understand the danger around them.’
‘Our mistake was that we didn’t take enough precautions.’
In addition, she also wants parents to spend as much time with their children as possible — something she can only ever do in memories with her beloved son, who she fondly remembers having a warm, friendly personality, and loving to dance to Ed Sheeran songs.
‘Don't take (time) for granted. Stop stressing about cleaning and cooking and spend every single moment with (your) babies,’ she said.
In Australia, the most common causes of injuries to children are falls, drownings, road accidents, accidental poisoning, and burns. Of these, road accidents and drowning also cause the most deaths.
Aside from childproofing homes, it is recommended to always have a pair of eyes watching children to help avoid tragic accidents such as this.
Meanwhile, if you or a loved one are in a similar stage of grief or are still healing from a similar death, we encourage reaching out to accredited mental health service providers.
What is your reaction to this tragic story? Are there any messages you’d like to tell Mihaela and Alex? Share them with us in the comments below.
Source: YouTube/MultiCare Health System
It was a Thursday like any other.
It was May 26, 2022, and lunchtime was fast approaching. Mihaela Baicans, 27, was preparing her family’s meal in the kitchen of her fourth-floor apartment.
‘I opened the door that goes straight to the balcony and I opened the window for fresh air.’ Mihaela said.
Her husband, Alex, 32, and their fifteen-month-old boy Zayn, were together in the living room.
‘For a moment, Zayn left, and his dad thought he came into the kitchen.’
As Mihaela went on preparing their food, the exhaust fan droned on — drowning out any sounds Zayn might have made.
And then, someone — probably a neighbour, in hindsight — shouted something the couple would never forget: ‘A child has fallen!’
‘I heard such a strong noise and instantly started to shake. I remember feeling shocked and a paralysed emotion crept from head to toe.’ she recalled.
Mihaela Baicans remembers her son Zayn as an ‘adventurous’ kid. Credit: 7News/Kennedy News and Media
‘My first instinct was to check to see where he was and then I heard someone screaming loudly…’
Fearing for the worst, Mihaela and Alex rushed outside to find a scene any parent would pray never to see: Zayn lying crumpled four stories down, unconscious.
‘I ran down the stairs screaming and I saw him on the ground,’ Mihaela said.
In the short seconds that might as well have been aeons for Mihaela, she pieced together what happened.
Zayn had climbed on top of his favourite toy car, got on their flat’s window sill, managed to get through a mosquito net, and fell.
‘I screamed for 10 minutes straight until the ambulance came. I don’t know who called the ambulance - it was probably the guy who said that he fell.’
Zayn was immediately rushed to a hospital, where doctors eventually put him in an induced coma.
After, he was transferred to a children’s hospital. There, Mihaela and Alex waited for any improvements in his condition.
‘At the hospital, I stood there in disbelief. I was numb.’ Mihaela said.
‘I found out he was in stage four coma with minimal chances of survival.’
Hours into their wait, Mihaela was allowed to see her son. Alex followed after a day. Sadly, no good news met the pair.
Zayn developed a large blood clot spanning his brain from the fall, and only ventilators were keeping him alive.
Zayn loved his blue toy car. Credit: 7News/Kennedy News and Media
‘I already saw all the signs that he was not showing any improvements,’ said Mihaela.
‘His eyes started to open, and they were lifeless.’
And then on May 29, at 1:30 in the morning, doctors told Mihaela her son’s heart had stopped beating.
Zayn was pronounced dead shortly after.
While in mourning, Mihaela also wants other parents to learn from her family’s tragic ordeal.
She said: ‘My main message is to childproof their homes until their kids start to understand the danger around them.’
‘Our mistake was that we didn’t take enough precautions.’
‘Don't take (time) for granted. Stop stressing about cleaning and cooking and spend every single moment with (your) babies,’ she said.
In Australia, the most common causes of injuries to children are falls, drownings, road accidents, accidental poisoning, and burns. Of these, road accidents and drowning also cause the most deaths.
Aside from childproofing homes, it is recommended to always have a pair of eyes watching children to help avoid tragic accidents such as this.
Meanwhile, if you or a loved one are in a similar stage of grief or are still healing from a similar death, we encourage reaching out to accredited mental health service providers.
What is your reaction to this tragic story? Are there any messages you’d like to tell Mihaela and Alex? Share them with us in the comments below.
Source: YouTube/MultiCare Health System
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