A Springfield mother is raising awareness after a 6-year-old dies of E. coli

While a Springfield mother held her unconscious 6-year-old in her arms, another family member called an ambulance.

Moments earlier, Samantha Ocasio’s daughter said she had to vomit, and Ocasio followed her to the bathroom.

She told her daughter that she loved her. “She told me she loved me too,” he recalled.

Ocasio, a mother of seven, was used to dealing with her children’s stomach ailments, but this wasn’t a stomach bug. Just a few hours later, Angelica Vazquez died of the enteropathogenic Escherichia coli – commonly known as E. coli.

“I don’t want this to happen to anyone else’s children. I absolutely don’t wish this on anyone,” she said. “My daughter was happy. She was healthy.”

Ocasio said the only change in the family’s eating was eating at a McDonald’s in western Massachusetts on Halloween, when her daughter dressed up as Minnie Mouse.

“I thought we’d go trick-or-treating. Let’s have a fun dinner,” Ocasio said.

While her siblings ate chicken nuggets, Angelica decided on a cheeseburger.

AND deadly E. coli poisoning epidemic is affiliated with McDonald’s onion after at least 75 people in 13 states became ill, federal health officials said. The strain of E. coli associated with onions served at McDonald’s is called O157.H7.

However, as of Monday, no cases of E. coli have been reported related to the O157.H7 strain and the McDonald’s outbreak in Massachusetts, as of Monday to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

After the outbreak, McDonald’s stopped selling burgers and found an alternative supplier of sliced ​​onions for about 900 restaurants. As of Nov. 14, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not reported any food safety concerns at McDonald’s, the restaurant said in statement.

“My whole concern is: OK, if it’s not McDonald’s, then what is it?” Ocasio asked.

Happy child

This was Angelica’s world; her mother lived there.

He fondly remembers Angelica asking to have her nails done. So they went to get their nails done. Ocasio bought her flowers for fun. They eagerly danced and sang to “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift.

After three sons, Angelica was her mother’s first daughter. And they were best friends.

“She literally lived the life of a princess,” her mother recalled. But the thing is, she never acted like this. She was so grateful for everything and everything she had.

On Angelica’s birthday, July 3, her mother got up at 6 a.m. to buy her a bouquet of flowers and balloons. Later they went out for seafood and went shopping at Marshalls. While they were listening to Taylor Swift, her daughter started crying – but they were tears of joy.

“She thought, ‘You’re the best mom in the world.’ This is the best birthday,” Ocasio said.

On other days, the couple sat together for hours, braiding their hair or doing their nails. Her daughter loved learning dances on TikTok. And there was a lot of laughter.

“That’s what keeps me going most days is knowing that I was able to at least give her some happy moments while she was here,” she said.

What happened

Angelica started feeling sick on November 1. Her mother made sure she drank plenty of Gatorade and rested by watching TV.

On November 2, she gave her daughter a bubble bath and they played in the bubbles together.

But the situation changed quickly. About 45 minutes later, she fainted in her mother’s arms. By the time she got to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Angelica had gone into cardiac arrest.

“It was fast. “It was really, really fast,” Ocasio said.

She tried asking doctors questions about her daughter’s condition, but found she was not getting many answers.

“They just kept telling me, ‘She’s too sick.’ She’s too sick,” her mother recalled.

She was finally told that Angelica might be in the hospital for a few days. So she asked her family to bring her a packed bag of clothes.

“I thought I would be there for three to five days and my baby would come home with me,” she said.

Doctors later told Ocasio that her daughter had suffered brain damage due to lack of oxygen.

About 12 hours after being admitted to the hospital, a happy, healthy 6-year-old girl died.

Raising awareness

Her daughter always took care of other people. In her honor, Ocasio hopes so raising awareness about E. coli.

“Because what if the next parent thinks it’s a stomach bug? What if the next parent doesn’t know what the symptoms are?” she said.

Anyone can become infected with E. coli According to the CDC, infection. However, children under 5 years of age, adults over 65 years of age and people with weakened immune systems are at greater risk.

The CDC suggests seeing a doctor if diarrhea or vomiting lasts longer than two days, if there is blood in the stool, if the fever exceeds 30 degrees, dehydration Or symptoms of hemolytic uremic syndromewhich include feeling tired. Stomach cramps and diarrhea with mucus are also common symptoms.

Parents Also be careful swelling of hands and feet in children, decreased urination and crying.

But it’s not always easy to notice. Ocasio asked her daughter if she thought the stomach pains were bothersome and if she needed to see a doctor.

Her daughter said, “No, my stomach just hurts.”

“Children have stomach problems. It turned out to be a stomach disease,” she said. “She acted normal until she lost consciousness.”

Ocasio stated that she did not know that her daughter died of E. coli because no one at the hospital explained it to her, she added.

She later discovered information from the funeral home.

Her daughter’s death certificate indicated that she died of cardiac arrest, acute gastrointestinal bleeding and tested positive for enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Each year in the U.S., it is estimated that approximately 48 million people become ill with E. coli, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. FDA.

Now Ocasio fears she won’t be able to keep her remaining six children, all of whom are under 10, safe.

“I’ve been browsing Google all night long. I got up. I don’t sleep. I don’t function,” she said. “I do what I can for my children. But when it comes to night time, I google. I read about various things.

“The whole family doesn’t eat out anymore,” Ocasio said. Instead, they eat at home.

Linked to other recent E. coli outbreaks ground beef AND carrots.

“The best way to prevent infections is to keep your hands clean, prepare food safely and drink safe water,” he added. CDC recommends.

The Ocasio family likes to spend time remembering Angelica.

“We talk about her all the time,” she added.

The family also released balloons for their daughter and made necklaces for each of the children.

“They carry them everywhere. We talk about her. They know they can talk about her,” she said. “And I check their mental health every morning and before bed. And in the meantime, we just talk a lot and cry a lot together.”

Talking publicly about the last few weeks hasn’t been easy, especially as social media posts questioned the truth about her daughter’s death.

But she said she wanted to tell her daughter’s story in hopes of saving another child.

“I feel like my job now is to spread awareness,” she said.