An Ohio mother had to perform life-saving CPR on her own baby after the nine-month-old fractured her skull while falling off the kitchen counter.
Ashley Conley claims she turned her back for a split second after placing nine-month-old Callie in a baby seat on the kitchen island while she prepared lunch and her husband Kyle unpacked their groceries.
They were at their Batavia, Ohio, home, and the 30-year-old had just turned her back to put some pasta on to boil when she heard a thud.
The stay-at-home mother turned around to see her husband running over and her daughter no longer on the countertop, but on her back on their hardwood floor, still in the seat.
The mother of three rushed to pick up her daughter, but as she held her, Callie began to have a seizure, rolling her eyes back and frothing at the mouth.
Ashley was forced to perform CPR on her own baby after Callie stopped breathing.
Fortunately, while Ashley was picking up Callie, Kyle, 31, called 911, and an ambulance arrived at their house within two minutes.
Paramedics took over CPR, and when Callie resumed breathing, Ashley accompanied her to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio, where a scan revealed she had fractured her skull.
Since the terrifying incident, Ashley has spoken out about the dangers of child care. In a TikTok video from January 3, she began sharing her story as a warning to others.
She said, “It was every parent’s worst nightmare. It was terrible.
“It was terrible. I had never seen a seizure before. Her eyes rolled back, and she began to convulse and foam at the mouth.”
She went on to say, “It was difficult not to be able to hold her. That was the worst day of my life.
“I felt embarrassed and ashamed that I had put her up there and let her fall. I’d never really shared that with anyone, and I never intended to because I didn’t want to be judged.
“But I saw it so often on TikTok, where people had their kids up on the counters like me, that I didn’t realize the dangers. I believe many people are unaware of the dangers involved. I wanted to inform people.
“I wanted to share it and hope that people see it and hope that it would make some changes.”
Callie was unconscious during the ambulance ride after medics stabilized her breathing.
Ashley explained, “I was just begging God to save her. I was hysterical in the ambulance. They told me they’d seen this before and that it can go in a variety of ways.
“They mentioned that it could be a coma, brain damage, or fine.
“When they mentioned the brain damage, I became numb.” I couldn’t contain my emotions and cried with my fingers on her head whenever they allowed it.
“When I arrived, I was greeted by a chaplain, so I immediately thought, oh my gosh, they’re not telling me she’s going to die.
“She was very confused and screaming. I was right above her, but she didn’t recognise me. She was looking past me with a glazed expression. They told me that was normal after a grand mal seizure, so I was very confused.
Callie was fitted with a brace in case she had broken her neck and taken for a CT scan to rule out a brain bleed.
Fortunately, the scan revealed that Callie had no brain bleeding, but she had suffered a fracture above her ear on her left parietal bone, which doctors told Ashley would heal naturally.
Ashley stated, “I went with her to the CT. I was so hysterical that I couldn’t walk.
“Then they came and told me there was no bleed, just a fracture, which is the best case scenario in a fall like this because fractures are self-healing.
“Because there was no damage to the brain, they said actually, we’ll put you in a room for a little while and then you can go home.
“That was shocking. Honestly, I wanted her to stay because I was so worried, but it was reassuring that they said, “Oh, it’s no big deal.”
“Their entire demeanour changed. They were concerned at first, but after seeing her CT, they were relieved, acting as if nothing had happened.”
Ashley stated that since the accident, Callie, who is now 15 months old, has had additional seizures, and doctors are still investigating what is causing them.
Ashley stated: “About four months later, on November 20th, we were playing and she suddenly was unable to sit up; she just kind of fell limp to the ground, and I assumed she was trying to be funny or something.”
“My husband saw her and said something looked strange in her eyes, so he picked her up, and she was completely limp in his arms.”
“Her eyes rolled back as he handed her to me, and she started having another grand mal seizure.
“It was terrifying, and it came out of nowhere. We called the ambulance again. She didn’t stop breathing the second time, but it lasted about four and a half minutes.
“They said it was a febrile seizure, so we’re sending you home with rescue medication in case she has more that last that long.
“About two weeks later, she experienced an absent seizure. She’s had three of them.
“They [the doctors] claim they’re unrelated to the fall. I believe they are simply because she had never had a seizure before that.
“If she continues to have them, we’ll conduct genetic testing and a longer EEG to look for any epilepsy that may have gone undetected.
“She’s wonderful. She is fully developmentally sound. They claim that traumatic brain injuries can cause developmental issues. She has not had any.
“She’s speaking clearly and is on track with everything. Except for the seizures following the fall, she was back to herself and hasn’t changed at all since then.”
Ashley now wants to raise awareness about what happened in the hopes of discouraging other parents from positioning baby seats at a height.
