Mum issues warning after son develops pneumonia because of popcorn

A mum has issued a warning to other parents on social media, after her son became very ill because of popcorn.

Nicole Johnson Goddard, from Denver in the US, explained on Facebook how her family – with her husband and their three kids – usually have movie nights and popcorn as a snack.

During one of those family nights in, her youngest son Nash had a ‘small chocking episode’ but seemed fine after coughing. While nothing came out, the parents assumed the toddler had swallowed whatever caused the coughing episode, and continued to watch the film.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10213897844620417&set=pcb.10213897907181981&type=3&theater

However, the cough continued the next day and two days later the little boy gained a temperature and was ‘super fussy’.

Alongside picture of her son recovering in hospital, the mum wrote: ‘He had a fever, so I gave him Motrin and put him to bed. A very long night with him and then his breathing looked a little laboured to me and he just didn’t feel good. I called my paediatrician immediately and said Nash needs to be seen ASAP. We went in and got sent to children’s main campus immediately.’

At the hospital, Nash had an X-ray and the doctor booked him in for a Bronchoscopic removal soon after as the popcorn had gone into his lungs and caused an inflammation, which turned into pneumonia.

‘At 6pm they put Nash under and performed the procedure. I paced and cried the entire time my little man was in surgery. He had aspirated popcorn into his lungs when he choked’, the mum explained.

‘The body recognized it as a foreign object and put puss pockets around it. All the inflammation caused him to develop pneumonia in his left lung. During the procedure the dr got out 6 pieces.

‘There was so much inflammation so the dr wasn’t 💯 he got it all so scheduled him to be admitted and repeat the procedure in 2 days. ‘

After the scary incident, Nicole now wants to make parents aware of what could happen to children if they choke on popcorn or other foods.

She added: 'I wanted to share our experience because as I’ve shared the story so many people were shocked and unaware of the bad effect popcorn can have on a toddler.

‘If I wouldn’t have trusted my instinct and brought him in, the outcome wouldn’t have been good.

‘Please no negative judgment on this post, I wrote it as an eye opener for people to see how something that you think is fine can quickly turn into something bad! Always trust your gut because it’s right!!'