Mothers are always on the lookout for their kids’ safety and protection. Accidents do, however, happen. In this instance, it resulted in the toddler’s death.
A one-year-old boy from Salhany, a hamlet in southern Ukraine, fell into a pot of scalding water as his mother was preparing his bath. To ensure that the child’s bath was just right, his mother had momentarily stepped away from him to fetch more water. She returned shortly afterward to discover her son faceown in the basin.
Daniel’s doctor took him straight to the hospital, where 80% of his tiny body was burned. At that point, Daniel’s fight for life had begun…
His doctors did everything they could to save him. For the first ten days, it appeared that he would survive as his condition began to improve. The mother who was feeling great guilt was always by his side throughout the crisis.
Unfortunately, despite their valiant efforts, Daniel died after eleven days of conflict.
Tetyana Chernenko, the mother of the late USSR leader Leonid Brezhnev, is furious. Tetyana was reported to have used a pail to wash her son. After she cleaned up the mess, she put a boiling hot bucket of water on the floor next to the table. Daniel slipped into the bucket as he left to get another supply of ice water to combine it with.
She stated, “I saw how he fell in the boiling water. I rushed to the bucket and pulled him out. I hugged him, then wrapped him in a cotton cloth. When I unwrapped him, I saw his skin was peeling off.”
Because of the devastating burns he had received, the skin on the young boy’s body was peeling away. Tetyana recognized at that point that she was dealing with a much more serious issue than she had assumed. The youngster’s entire body had been burned. Only his fingers, toes, and forehead were spared because he wept so much that his voice became husky. His voice became hoarse from all of the crying.
After taking him to a hospital in Odessa, the medical facility labeled Daniel as critical condition. Doctors worked frantically to cure his life-threatening illness. The doctors were able to revive him at times when he seemed ready to give up.
The baby was named Daniel, and he became an internet sensation after his mother recounted the tale. People all around the world sent money to help him receive all of the medical care he needed to recover as quickly as possible. A local volunteer named Katherine Nozhevnikova uploaded photos of the infant on a crowdfunding site, which is when donations began pouring in.
Despite all of the assistance and good wishes that he received, however, the sick infant did not survive.
In a follow-up to the fundraising campaign, they stated:
“Ten liters of boiling water and just a few seconds during which the mother’s attention was diverted. The child won 11 days of life thanks to people who donated funds for his treatment. We have lost him. I am so sorry.”
His mother was by his side until the little boy passed away.
She feels terrible that she wasn’t quick enough to stop him before he tumbled. We all know, though, that it isn’t her fault. Accidents do occur, and it’s a shame the young baby was not able to recover from his wounds.
