A mum is warning parents of the dangers of marshmallows after her two-year-old son almost choked to death.
Hanora Cox, 24, visited popular UK café chain Costa Coffee in County Durham, England, with her partner and son on January 9 (local time).
Ms Cox ordered herself a hot chocolate, and a child-friendly 'babyccino' for her son Dylan. But her decision to give Dylan one of the marshmallows that came with her drink almost proved fatal.
"I handed it to him and told him to make sure he'd chewed it," she told The Sun.
"He started to nibble it and we looked away for two seconds, and he had put the whole thing in his mouth and was unable to breathe."
She says she picked Dylan up and hit him on the back in an attempt to dislodge the marshmallow from his throat. But her efforts didn't seem to be working.
"At first, his arms were flailing around, but then he just went stiff. Then he went floppy and lost consciousness."
Ms Cox says she feared the worst after her son became unresponsive.
"I thought that we'd lost him," she told The Sun.
"We eventually found that he was slightly breathing as the marshmallow must have dissolved or he'd managed to swallow it."
When the family arrived at A&E, medical professionals confirmed that the marshmallow appeared to have dissolved in Dylan's throat, unblocking his airway.
Now Ms Cox is calling on Costa Coffee to stop giving marshmallows to children younger than four.
She says that on previous trips to the café Dylan was often given marshmallows with his 'babyccino' - a claim that Costa Coffee denies.
"We do not serve marshmallows with our free Babyccinos; however, they can be purchased as an extra," a café spokesperson says.
"We allow for parental discretion as to whether a marshmallow is given or brought for a child and currently do not have an age limit."
Newshub.
