Baby swallowed pen cap

FIJI – A family in Fiji is mourning the death of their 10-month-old baby who died after choking on a highlighter pen cap.

Police spokeswoman Ana Naisoro said the baby, Nemani Ravonu, was rushed to the Waiyevo Hospital on the island of Taveuni by his mother where he died.

The father of the deceased baby, Viliame Qerewaqa, said he was not happy with the way hospital staff in Taveuni treated his child.

“Medical staff resuscitated him as if they were dealing with a big man when he is only 10 months,” he has claimed. “I think that our medical personnel need to be taught how to treat these fragile cases because I do not believe they do. When we arrived at the hospital, there were no doctors, but only one nurse at the children’s ward.”

Qerewaqa said the baby was with his mother at home when he picked up the highlighter pen cap and swallowed it while his mother was cooking.

Ministry of Health and Medical Services told the Fiji Times it would look into the concerns raised and respond later.