It was an accident - a parent's worst nightmare.
The kind of thing we all fear will happen to our own kids. But for Matt and Esther it actually happened.
On March 16, 2009: their youngest child, Fergus who is about to turn one-year-old, almost drowned when he fell head first into a 5-gallon bucket that had some water in it.
Esther and Matt Lockerby watched helplessly as their unresponsive baby, their youngest child, was not able to be revived by local first responders. Fergus was lifted by helicopter while doctors urgently applied CPR to his lifeless body and as they did all they could do to help him live.
Matt and Esther had not seen Fergus take a breath since they had rescued him from the bucket.
Now, in the car on the way to the hospital they dared to hope that he was still alive, but were struck with shock, fear and dread as reality threatened to show otherwise. They knew that too many minutes had passed without oxygen.
It had been less than 3 years since their hearts had been utterly broken when they lost a 3 month old little daughter to SIDS.
The kind of thing we all fear will happen to our own kids. But for Matt and Esther it actually happened.
On March 16, 2009: their youngest child, Fergus who is about to turn one-year-old, almost drowned when he fell head first into a 5-gallon bucket that had some water in it.
Esther and Matt Lockerby watched helplessly as their unresponsive baby, their youngest child, was not able to be revived by local first responders. Fergus was lifted by helicopter while doctors urgently applied CPR to his lifeless body and as they did all they could do to help him live.
Matt and Esther had not seen Fergus take a breath since they had rescued him from the bucket.
Now, in the car on the way to the hospital they dared to hope that he was still alive, but were struck with shock, fear and dread as reality threatened to show otherwise. They knew that too many minutes had passed without oxygen.
It had been less than 3 years since their hearts had been utterly broken when they lost a 3 month old little daughter to SIDS.
Was baby Fergus going to die too? He was unable to be revived by this air-evac rescue crew. When they arrived at the local hospital Matt and Esther were told yet another helicopter was already on its way to transport their baby to a bigger hospital in Springfield, Missouri - more than a 2 hour drive from their home.
In Springfield, Fergus was again put on life support, but tests soon confirmed what everyone had dreaded to hear: there was no brain activity. He was not breathing on his own. Baby Fergus was already dead, only the machines were keeping him alive. The doctor told Matt and Esther they needed to make the decision to "pull the plug" and end life support for their precious baby boy.
In Springfield, Fergus was again put on life support, but tests soon confirmed what everyone had dreaded to hear: there was no brain activity. He was not breathing on his own. Baby Fergus was already dead, only the machines were keeping him alive. The doctor told Matt and Esther they needed to make the decision to "pull the plug" and end life support for their precious baby boy.
