Anthoinette Medley's 14-month-old son Timir is a near mirror image of his twin brother, Nelsir. On February 20, 2009, then 7-and-a-half-week old Nelsir Medley died a sudden, and his mother says preventable, death blaming suffocation from a baby sling.
"I will never get to hear him call me Mommy. I will never get to see him take a first step," Anthoinette Medley said.
It was a Friday morning when Medley was proudly showing off the twin boys with each tucked into an Infantino Slingrider, one on each side. On one of many glowing glances at her boys, she noticed blood. Lifting Nelsir, she found him unresponsive. Hours later at the hospital, he was pronounced dead.
"When they finally took me to my child, it looked like, it looked as if he was asleep. And I held him for about 6 hours," Anthoinette said.
"It's up to the manufacturers, like Infantino, to issue a voluntary recall of their product before other children are injured, or God forbid, killed," attorney Alan Feldman said.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, 14 deaths have been associated with sling style infant carriers; Nelsir's among the first. When used in certain ways, the commission says, they can cause suffocation, cutting off the infant's airway, or pressing it too closely to the parent to allow proper breathing.
Infantino says its talking with the commission about its concerns.
Anthoinette Medley says until they're addressed, she'll be talking too, to anyone who will listen.
"One thing that does bring me joy in my son's passing is that he's able to save many more lives. You know. He did not just die in vain," Anthoinette said.
If you do use a bag type sling, the CSPC says there is only one proper way to do so - make sure your infant is laying on its back, chin up, with its face and mouth always visible to you.
Action News and 6abc.com will keep you posted on any recalls that may result.
