This Mom's Tragic Story Shows Just How Dangerous It Can Be to Sleep on Different Floors
When Keri Hall Volmert put her 17-month-old daughter to bed on the evening of Feb. 28, 2016, she never imagined it would be the last time she'd see her alive.
But the moment she heard the "desperation and screeching panic" in her husband's voice as he yelled her name from their daughter Sammie Joyce's room the next morning, she knew something was terribly wrong. After failed attempts to resuscitate Sammie at the emergency room, the little girl was pronounced dead.
Keri shares her tragic story on the Facebook page, Remembering Sammie Joyce Volmert. It serves as a memorial for the couple's lost baby and also a warning to other parents of a danger many wouldn't even think of: sleeping on a separate floor from your child.
On February 28, 2016, I changed my precious baby into her tiny nightgown, wiped her snotty little nose, walked through...
Posted by Remembering Sammie Joyce Volmert on Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Sammie died of hyperthermia as a result of a malfunctioning heater. The thermostat was set on 72 degrees but the heater upstairs was blasting, bringing the temperature to over 100 degrees in Sammie's room. Because Keri and her husband were sleeping downstairs, they had no way of knowing the temperature upstairs was reaching dangerously high levels.
Keri wrote that doctors believe Sammie never woke up or made a sound either, because young children cannot regulate their body temperature the way older children and adults can. The doctors also said their three-year-old son Jackson (who had been sleeping downstairs with his parents) would have likely also died if he had been in his room upstairs that night.
"We want others (especially those with two-story homes) to hear Sammie's story so that children can be protected and other families spared from the horrific grief we are forced to endure each day," Keri wrote.
The family's tragic story serves as an important warning for all parents. Although no amount of preparation can guarantee a child's safety, Keri hopes that sharing Sammie's story can prevent future deaths like her daughter's.
If you sleep on a different floor than your child and are worried about their safety, a temperature-monitoring baby monitor can detect potential heat risks.
(h/t Mom.me)
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