'Beautiful' two-year-old girl dies after choking on piece of sausage at nursery
A two-year-old girl has died after she choked on a piece of sausage while having lunch at nursery.
Sadie Salt died at St Mary’s Hospital in London on Saturday, two days after she choked while eating sausages for lunch at Mini Learners nursery in Radlett, Hertfordshire.
Following her death, friends of her family have launched an online petition calling for sausages and grapes to be banned from all nurseries.
Paramedics and an air ambulance were called to the nursery last Thursday, the Borehamwood Times reported.
Sadie was taken to hospital and placed in intensive care but she died on Saturday.
Her family, from Barnet, have set up a fundraising page for COSMIC, a charity that supports the Children’s Intensive Care Unit at St Mary’s Hospital in Paddington.
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The JustGiving page, titled “In loving memory of our princess Sadie”, has raised more than £38,000 for COSMIC.
The page was set up on behalf of her parents, Adam and Zoe, and her brothers, aged seven and 10.
Her parents said: “We are devastated to have lost our beautiful Sadie on Saturday, 14 November. Sadie spent two days in St Mary's Hospital paediatric ICU where the care she, mummy and daddy received was incredible.
“The team at the ICU are beyond amazing and the care for Sadie and the support for us was outstanding.
“They took tremendous care of our Sadie and us and nothing was too much to make us all feel loved, cared for and supported.
"We are in terrible pain as we suffer the untimely loss of our daughter and sister, but the huge support of love from you all has been overwhelming. We are so proud to tell you that she was able to help others by donating vital organs to go on and save lives.”
Friends of the family have launched a petition, which so far has more than 4,000 signatures, calling for a ban on nurseries serving sausages and grapes.
Those behind the Change.org petition, Darren Ruback and Claire Nicole, wrote: “This is a petition we never thought we’d be writing.
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"Our friends have lost their baby. Our baby has lost his friend. Two young boys have lost their little sister.
"We are fully aware that accidents happen but things can also be put in place to prevent these accidents occurring.
"We are appealing to get sausages and grapes banned from all nursery settings so no other family has to go through the devastation and heartbreak that so many people have felt this weekend.
Hertfordshire Constabulary said an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
A spokesperson for Mini Learners nursery told the Borehamwood Times: “We are absolutely devastated by this news and our sincere and heartfelt condolences go out to the family.”
