Mother Speaks Out After Child Almost Dies from Ingesting a Single Water Bead: ‘It Still Shocks Me’

A mother whose world changed into upended when an unknown hazard bought to her toddler daughter in her absorb residence is speaking out to warn other oldsters referring to the unhealthy toy.

The previous couple of months of Fohlicia Mitchell’s existence procure been centered on the recovery of her daughter, Kennedy. In tiring October, at 9 months celebrated, Kennedy changed into taken to the scientific institution when she started exhibiting symptoms the mother of 4 before all the pieces suspected would possibly perchance presumably procure been a meals hypersensitivity.

“The Twenty ninth of October is once I started to deem she wasn’t feeling exact. The evening ahead of I had given her white rice for basically the most well-known time. So when she wakened the subsequent day and she or he spit up a little bit bit and it had rice, my first thought changed into that she changed into having a reaction to that,” Mitchell tells PEOPLE.

“I did not dash handsome to the doctor, she did not procure a fever. She changed into aloof eating and taking half in your entire time. She wasn’t screaming out. So I supreme thought she wasn’t feeling exact — conventional little one stuff, supreme no longer feeling tall.”

Never omit a myth — be half of for PEOPLE’s free daily e-newsletter to pause awake-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to provide, from juicy celebrity news to driving human hobby tales.

On Halloween, Kennedy changed into torpid, spending many of the day snoozing, which raised Mitchell’s arena.

“I had on no myth skilled a little bit one being torpid, so I wasn’t fully drag, however once that thought popped into my head, I supreme made up our minds to make a decision on her to the local emergency room,” she recalls.

And so started what changed into four nerve-wracking weeks within the scientific institution combating to web Kennedy befriend to neatly being. The principle emergency room they went to did some blood work and posthaste certain the toddler would want more, transferring her to a increased scientific institution gadget with more sources.

“That is once I started to feel be pleased one thing more serious changed into imperfect. In the intervening time, I wasn’t asking loads of questions. I changed into coordinating, more be pleased calling her dad after which getting my mother to come befriend to be alongside with her three older brothers.”

It wasn’t till they bought to Portland Sanatorium that signs of an obstruction appeared. Kennedy vomited brown liquid and showed other symptoms that led them to ship the 9-month-celebrated for an ultrasound, after which doctors requested Mitchell if Kennedy will procure swallowed the rest puny.

“I changed into aloof hung up on [the idea] she’s having an allergic reaction, so I changed into be pleased, yeah, she supreme ate white rice. The doctor changed into be pleased, no, be pleased a marble or a bead.”

After some thought, Mitchell remembered shopping for her older son a water bead space, which the doctor posthaste acknowledged gave the impact plausible.

“He showed me on the show cowl cowl and also you would survey this circular obstruction in her intestines,” she recalls to PEOPLE. “And he explained or no longer it is sunless inner, which tells us that or no longer it is stuffed with fluid, so a water bead would originate sense.”

Scientific doctors conferred with pediatric surgeons, who debated the space of the object within the little one’s puny intestine, soon figuring out she’d need surgical operation. After almost four hours, they performed the surgical operation, at some stage in which they removed a single water bead from Kennedy’s puny intestine.

“They acknowledged that they went during the intestines and felt with their arms and that they did not web to any extent additional or believed that there changed into to any extent additional,” Mitchell shares, pronouncing the family changed into in quick relieved ahead of realizing they weren’t out of the woods yet.

“After almost 12 hours, she did not give a settle to. She changed into supreme as in sorrowful health as she changed into, and in addition they needed to set the NG tube befriend down to suck out the bile that she would procure aloof been throwing up, because at that point her intestines weren’t working anymore.”

One other exploratory surgical operation changed into performed to verify that no water beads were overlooked and that the positioning of the incision closed properly.

“They did not know that it had brought on this huge an infection that got right here within the subsequent day and a half of, the save she step by step bought worse,” Mitchell shares.

Mitchell changed into by her daughter’s side while her husband changed into home with their other three childhood as Kennedy took a turn for the worse, third spacing, and changed into believed to procure long past into septic shock.

“I deem it changed into complicated for them. They are really 2, 4 and 9, so they were puzzled,” Mitchell says of her boys. “They had an thought that Kennedy swallowed one thing that she wasn’t presupposed to, and it made her if truth be told in sorrowful health, and so she wanted to be at the doctor so as that they would possibly presumably motivate her.”

Though it changed into later certain Kennedy changed into no longer going septic, her organs weren’t functioning properly and one more an infection changed into suspected.

“This changed into the second time they suspected she would no longer originate it during the evening,” Mitchell recalls, explaining that Kennedy’s intestines were taken out and placed in a silo obtain to motivate motivate swelling in her body, at some stage in which she changed into on a ventilator.

“It changed into more or less experimental,” Mitchell explains of the treatment. “They did not know if it would possibly perchance in point of fact presumably well work, however it completely right away started relieving the stress. It changed into supreme a ready game to survey if she’d originate it to the subsequent day and during the subsequent evening.”

For the length of the time Kennedy’s intestines were within the silo obtain, doctors came someday of and removed pieces of her intestines that had “corroded” and “died off.” Then got right here the closing surgical operation to set the intestines befriend in her body.

Kennedy recovered from that surgical operation neatly and at closing made it home four weeks after first being admitted.

“It be so laborious to deem that that changed into if truth be told our existence,” Mitchell says. “I plod befriend over it, and it aloof shocks me.”

While specializing in Kennedy and focused on the the rest of her family at home, Mitchell felt grateful for social media. She shared Kennedy’s story on TikTok, sharing daily updates to a neighborhood sending prayers and exact vibes for her recovery.

“Sharing it online took the stress off of me being on my own and it gave me of mission to be ready to digest the data that I changed into being given,” Mitchell says. “I’m making a video, going over that data every other time after which other folks supreme if truth be told started caring supreme so worthy about Kenny.”

“That gave me one thing hopeful to carry on to, and daily and per week, there were other folks that actually do not know who my toddler little one daughter is and in addition they care so worthy. They procure to know how she’s doing. I for drag deem it gave some more or less vitality that helped her.”

Mitchell, who changed into already living with C-PTSD ahead of Kennedy’s scientific emergency, says or no longer it is been “if truth be told laborious” shifting forward now that they are befriend home and centered on furthering Kennedy’s recovery.

“It be made what will procure to be frequent existence feel frightening,” Mitchell says. “It be been if truth be told upsetting because we on no myth let her procure the water beads and weren’t attempting forward to it. It changed into so keen to be urged she has supreme one water bead in her body, and right here is all that is took location.”

“Then, two days would pass, and it will doubtless be, ‘she moreover has this situation.’ Her coronary heart had stopped working within the second or third surgical operation, so they needed to speed an emergency artery line in her handsome arm on myth of, I judge, no matter chemical substances were within the bead.”

“Her blood wasn’t clotting, however then she fashioned a clot. After they did that, they needed to speed that emergency line,” she continues. “So for 2 days, her hand changed into gray and it changed into be pleased, ‘Her body is swelling and constructing stress. She moreover would possibly perchance presumably lose this arm if this medication doesn’t motivate.’ ”

“Then she wanted surgical operation, however she has no platelets. So she’s bought a clot we’re attempting to web rid of, however her body can no longer clot to enter surgical operation. So we now procure bought to give her platelets, after which she’s bought no crimson blood cells, so we now procure bought to give her a crimson blood cell infusion. So many things occurring out of nowhere that got right here from one thing we weren’t attempting forward to, and it supreme scares you,” she concludes.

Kennedy, now 13 months, is making tall progress on her highway to recovery, Mitchell is happy to document.

“She’s in physical treatment because she changed into mendacity in bed for shut to a month, so she lost loads of core strength, however she’s up on all fours crawling every other time. We’re working alongside with her physical therapist to web her standing and walking since she supreme turned 1.”

Mitchell is grateful to be ready to work on spreading awareness and playing the bits of normalcy her family gets befriend as time passes.

“I if truth be told procure moments daily the save it supreme more or less washes over me be pleased how lucky I’m to procure been ready to carry her home and to procure her home,” the mother shares. “We had her first birthday social gathering closing month and even with Valentine’s Day, I’m supreme continuously reflecting on it.”

“I create no longer let any individual else quiz her. I’m aloof if truth be told on edge, supreme after being regarded at within the face and being urged a couple of cases that your daughter will not originate it. I for drag plod befriend to that plenty, however I strive to let plod and revel in it. We snuggle plenty, I be pleased to preserve her if truth be told shut your entire time.”

Other than working on her absorb family, Mitchell is moreover attempting to spread the observe about how unhealthy water beads will doubtless be to other households. She’s moreover pursuing supreme amble in opposition to the producer of the toy, which Mitchell notes has a choking hazard however no warning of the hazards of ingesting.

Mitchell has teamed up with Ashley Haugen — whose daughter Kipley skilled a an identical incident to Kennedy and changed into later diagnosed with Toxic Brain Encephalopathy, a brain harm ensuing in exposure to solvents and heavy metals — to spread awareness and half a Replace.org petition to ban the toy.

“That really pushed me to preserve talking about it because that is what made me feel if truth be told offended with the corporate is that I procure be pleased I did not web to originate an urged choice once I sold the water beads,” Mitchell says. “I did not web to know. And so if I had seen, ‘In the event that they are ingested, you’ll procure to stare scientific attention or would possibly perchance presumably well motive organ harm or would possibly perchance presumably well block the lungs — because I do know namely of a little bit one who had it web lodged in his lung — then perchance I would procure been ready to originate a particular choice.”