The Waughtel family couldn’t have asked for better weather during their annual trip to the Lilac Festival in Rochester NY.
Unfortunately, their day took a scary turn as they were leaving the parade and heading to grab some lunch. Their toddler, Sam, just looked tired at first.
“We thought ‘It has been a busy day for him; he’s probably going to fall asleep on us while we are eating lunch,'” Alissa said. “And then his head tilted again, and the second time it tilted, his eyes rolled back in his head and he completely started to convulse. His whole body started shaking and we all rushed and realized he was having a seizure.”
Sam had never had a seizure before, and his parents had no idea what to do. Sam’s father, Jason, called 911 and Alissa ran down the hill with him, screaming for help. A mom and a pediatric ICU nurse was among the respondents.
“She basically walked me through the entire process of what a seizure is and the steps it kind of takes and kind of things, so that was really calming to have someone there who is telling me ‘OK, look, now his eyes are moving, now his fingers are moving, he is breathing, you can see his chest is moving, he is coming back, now you can pick him up,'” Alissa said. “Then there was a pediatric ICU nurse that was right there as well, keeping us calm, monitoring Sam’s vitals and just making sure he was alert and checking his eyes and getting some responses from him and they all stayed with me the entire time.”
Paramedics were eventually able to navigate an ambulance through the busy crowd. Sam was then transported to Strong Memorial Hospital.
Doctors determined that Sam had suffered a febrile seizure from a viral illness. His parents say they had no indication that he’d been fighting it when they’d set out for the festival that day.
“Nothing that would give me a red flag that this was coming our way,” Alissa said. “All the doctors just said when an illness hits your system and the temperature rises too quickly, they just can’t manage, and fortunately it is very common but that doesn’t make you feel any better when you see your 2-year-old’s lips turn blue, shaking and not knowing what was happening.”
Thankfully, Sam is already getting back to his normal, playful self. He’s expected to return home within the next two days. Upon speaking with WHAM News, the family expressed gratitude for the amazing people who helped them with their son.
“Obviously, it’s not something you ever want to happen to your child, but it was a miracle having all of the people we needed to be there, to be there,” Alissa said. “I mean, a pediatric ICU nurse, a mom that has experience with this, EMTs right there — it was a perfect storm of perfect people to be there to help our son.”
“I just want them to know Sam is healthy, he is happy, and he is our playful little boy because they were able to help us in our time of need without even thinking of themselves,” Alissa said. “Everyone dropped everything for our son, and I want them to know how thankful we are for that.”
