BRACEBRIDGE — The status of a boy who suffered a choking mishap Sunday morning in the Fraserburg area of Bracebridge is unknown at press time.
At 9:30 Sunday morning, Bracebridge OPP was called to an address near Fraserburg after a child was discovered with vital signs absent.
The four-year-old boy had initially been discovered not breathing and without a pulse in a yard, OPP said.
Police say the boy’s parents had initiated CPR (cardio-pulmonary resuscitation) and had been able to establish a weak pulse.
Upon their arrival, police took over CPR on the still unconscious boy until paramedics arrived, OPP report.
The boy was transported to South Muskoka Memorial Hospital with a weak pulse and was airlifted from there to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
While en-route his breathing improved, but no further information was available on the child’s condition at press time.
Police say the boy had been playing in the yard with a dog and that the dog had tugged the child’s scarf tightly around his neck, cutting off his airway.
No charges will be laid in the case.
“A four-year-old playing in a yard with a dog – you wouldn’t think there’d be danger there,” said Bracebridge OPP Const. James Reading. “I think that’s what has a lot of people so upset. It’s one of those things – it can happen just that fast.”
OPP remind parents not to let children play unsupervised, and to take extra precaution when using scarves or any clothing that may become wrapped around a child’s neck.