When Tasmanian mother Anna Davis brought home a bouncy ball for her son Alby as an early birthday present, she could never have imagined he would not make it to his fourth birthday on Monday.
While playing, the ball became lodged in Alby’s his windpipe and stopped him from breathing. The three-year-old died in his pregnant mother’s arms in their Wynyard home, The Mercury reports.
Ms Davis posted a heartbreaking tribute to the toddler on her Instagram the.small.folk, writing: “Yesterday afternoon, our beautiful, beautiful Alby, our darling baby boy, grew wings and flew from this earth. Minutes pass like hours and the gaping hole in our lives and hearts is completely incomprehensible.”
She signed off the post “We adore you beyond belief, our sweet little fox. Forever three, forever free.”
Ms Davis—who has two other children, Acre and Sage, with her husband Simon—also shared a photo of Alby just 40 minutes before he lost his life.
“I can’t wait to go to bed tonight Mum!” Our precious boy, with his brand new doona cover, 2.49pm on Monday afternoon… exactly 40 minutes before he took his final earthside breath in my arms,” she captioned the post.
A crowdfunding page for the Davis family has raised more than $180,000 for the devastated family.
The friend who launched the campaign told the Mercury that Alby’s parents “are a really beautiful and humble family, and people are sharing their grief”.
Meanwhile, Jenny Branch-Allen, CEO of KidsSafe Tasmania, expressed her condolences to the Davis family and has issued a warning about choking hazards.
“Young children are always experimenting, especially under five, and choking is a real hazard,” she told the ABC.
“It’s a big challenge for parents and parenting is the world’s toughest job. Anything smaller than the size of a 50 cent piece is a potential choking hazard.”
You can donate to the family’s GoFundMe page here.
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