Advertisement
3-year-old Elsie Mahe passed away on Tuesday, November 29, just over a week after she was choked by the cord of window blinds.
Elsie and a friend had been playing at home when it happened. She got her neck caught in the cord and began to choke, at which point her friend ran to get Elsie’s mom for help.
Although Elsie’s mom, Sunny, immediately administered CPR on her daughter, it was too late.
The young girl was airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. There, still unconscious, Elsie was put on life support and given a ventilator to help her breathe.
Elsie was quite responsive to her visitors; when her parents came to visit and sing to her, her heartrate would slow to a more regular pace and show other positive responses. Over time, Elsie was able to breathe on her own again and able to be taken off sedation. The nerves in her leg even responded to reflex tests.
In spite of all these positive signs, Elsie was ultimately unresponsive to being woken up.
When Elsie’s brain finally reduced in swelling, doctors were only then able to discover that she’d developed illnesses and was suffering from seizures. The "upper lobes [of Elsie’s brain] went without oxygen long enough to be devastated,” the family reported on their online page.
On Monday night, Elsie’s condition had deteriorated too far. She was no longer able to breathe on her own without the support of a ventilator and doctors had no choice but to take her off the supportive machine.
Elsie’s parents plan on donating her organs in hopes of saving other children’s lives.
A family friend is currently collecting donations to support the family through these times. You can donate here.
Our hearts go out to the Mahe family and anyone else affected by Elsie’s death.
