Busted's Charlie Simpson has issued a heartfelt warning to parents over the risks of 'secondary drowning' after his son Jago, four, was rushed to hospital whilst on holiday.
The songwriter and musician took to Instagram to share his family holiday nightmare experience in the hope of alerting others to the potentially 'fatal' danger that can occur just hours after someone has been underwater.
It come after parents are given warnings about babies choking and dangers of children using online apps.
Charlie explained how his second child had been underwater swimming in a swimming pool when he emerged "spluttering and coughing". Despite initially recovering from the episode, later that evening after dinner he started to vomit and became lethargic.
A doctor was called and he was diagnosed with food poisoning but when Charlie relayed the pool incident and something he read about secondary drowning, further tests were carried out and his son was confirmed to have suffered secondary drowning.
Charlie explained, "After hearing this, his demeanour changed and he told us to go to A&E straight away. 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."
Jago spent the next three days in hospital and Charlie added, "I’m so thankful for the amazing care he received. 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."
It's not just the heatwave that parents and children need to be aware of the risks when it comes to swimming in water, as an activity like swimming in a pool on holiday or at a local leisure centre can come with the risk of secondary drowning.
Even a child who happens to go under water during bath time and inhaling water, could potentially be at risk too.
Charlie warned, "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."
Charlie, who has son Jago, four, and Arlo, seven, with wife Anna Barnard, stressed, "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."
