A grieving mum admits she and her partner ‘blame themselves’ after they fell asleep with their baby lying between them – leaving the suffocated child possibly blind and unable to move.
Breanna Brown, 22, was woken by cries from baby Karvion Brown on May 3 so took her son out of the crib in her bedroom before handing him to husband Ezell Brown, 23, to feed before going back to sleep.
The heartbroken mum has said one second changed everything and admitted she ‘should have kept her baby in his crib’ when she heard his cries in the early hours of the morning.
The mum-of-three was horrified when Ezell’s terrified screams woke her up at 5am as their son had turned blue in the face and was struggling to breathe.
Breanna claims that the five-month-old baby had fallen asleep on top of the covers in between the couple, and likely got tangled in the quilt in a desperate attempt to reach his bottle after Ezell fell asleep mid-feed. Metro reports.
The panicked parents immediately called an ambulance while blowing into Karvion’s mouth in an attempt to help him breathe, as the baby’s lips were getting ‘bluer and bluer by the second’.
Karvion was then swiftly rushed to hospital, where doctors provided the baby with a breathing tube before moving him to a children’s hospital in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, US, an hour later.
The full-time mum claims that doctors confirmed that Karvion was deprived of oxygen for approximately seven minutes, and had four subclinical seizures in the ambulance alone.
Breanna claims that Karvion was initially having as many as 16 seizures a day – and doctors fear he may now be blind as well as possibly suffering 75% brain cell death due to being starved of oxygen.
The mum admits she blames herself for being ‘mad’ at her baby for crying and wanting feeding and that the last thing the baby might ever see could be while he was upset wanting his bottle.
She is now speaking out to warn other parents to never co-sleep with their babies saying ‘if you love them, put them in their own beds’.
Breanna, from Newton, Wisconsin, US, said: ‘When Karvion woke me up I was really tired, so I nudged my husband and said, “can you feed him? I just need a couple of minutes”.
‘When Ezell woke me up later, he was on the end of the bed screaming, “Karvion’s not breathing”.
‘My son’s arms and legs were flopped behind him. I could tell that he was turning purple and blue.
‘Right before the EMT walked up the steps, my husband blew in his mouth and he started gurgling and his eyes started rolling.
‘He was flopping back in Ezell’s arms. You could just see his lips getting bluer and bluer by the second.
‘He was probably trying to kick his legs and move his arms and wiggle for his bottle, so I’m thinking while he’s doing that he pulled his cover over his head and got wrapped in it.
‘Everything was black to me. All I knew is that my son needed help and I couldn’t give it to him. I just felt lost.
‘Right now, he hasn’t moved or opened his eyes or made any noises since they removed the breathing tube on 21st May.
The mum claims that although doctors are uncertain of what the future holds for Karvion, medical professionals have suggested that the couple may want to consider whether this is the kind of life that they want for their son.
Karvion is currently still in hospital receiving treatment for seizures, and the struggling parents are now raising money to fund their infant’s treatment on GoFundMe.
Breanna claims that the heartbreaking experience has left her burdened by guilt – and is now advising other parents to practise safe sleeping.
‘Ezell is feeling the guilt really bad, and I keep telling him not to. We’re both equally to blame.
‘I used to sleep with Karvion all the time, but never in the middle of us.
‘But now going back and looking at it, I shouldn’t have done it from the get-go – we never should have been used to that.
‘As cute and cuddly as they look, love them enough to put them in their beds. If you truly do deeply love them, give them a kiss and a hug and lay them in their cribs, please.”
