Wednesday, October 13, 2010

War Story Wednesday - A Good Night's Sleep


I'm on my way to San Francisco to attend Bouchercon 2010 ~ my very first one.

Today is Wednesday, which means another war story coming your way. As always, if you have one to share, feel free to write it in the comments below or provide a link to your blog.

This is a sad one.

I can't remember if this was the end of a midnight tour or the beginning of an 8x4 tour. One of my coworkers got a call of a baby not breathing. The reason the baby wasn't breathing was because the parents, in a desperate attempt to get a good night's sleep, taped a pacifier to the baby's mouth. You can guess what happened; the baby choked on its own vomit.

Despite CPR attempts by officers, racing lights & siren to the hospital, with officers blocking major intersections to get the PD to the hospital even quicker, the poor baby died.

The distraught and grieving parents were not charged in the tragedy.

2 comments:

  1. Kathleen - I truly hope you have a wonderful time at Bouchercon!

    About your story? It's so tragically heartbreaking. I understand the desperation to sleep, and that makes people do strange things. But this one? Just about too sad to contemplate....

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  2. Hi Margot,
    I'm having a great time at B-Con. I wish there was internet service in the areas where the panels are being held, because I'd be tweeting from there!
    I know, this is an extremely sad story. As you can understand, it's one I never forgot. Sometimes you wish there was a law on the books for being stupid, though, 'cause this certainly fit the bill. I was surprised that they didn't face some kind of legal action, though; their negligence brought about this poor baby's death.

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