Keri Graham’s son Tyler, 3, recovered after he was taken to children’s hospital in London from Oakville
Nov 10, 2022
Last month, Keri Graham knew her son Tyler, who was struggling to breathe, needed more help than the antibiotics he was prescribed.
Within 36 hours of arriving at the emergency room at the local hospital, the Oakville, Ont., mother’s son was loaded into an ambulance — lights on, sirens blaring, tearing down Highway 401 to London, Ont., where the nearly three-year-old would stay in an intensive-care bed for five days.
“If I had just trusted what was being delivered to me by the doctors and the health-care system, I would have been in trouble,” said Graham, who is now sharing her story so other parents know the warning signs of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which is surging in many parts of Canada.
“His breathing was incredibly short,” said Graham, who first monitored Tyler at home for a day and a half. “He was taking very shallow breaths and his abdomen was working very hard for each breath.