Toddler in pediatric intensive care unit in Edmonton after inhaling hot candle wax

A fun family night out to the movies turned into a living nightmare for Camrose, Alta., couple Patricia and Connor Davidson.

“We had a great night. We came home and noticed we left the candle burning, so my husband ran up blew it out,” said Patricia Davidson.

But within seconds of Patricia and Connor Davidson’s backs being turned, their 20-month-old son, Rhys, had reached the candle on the ledge, full of hot wax.

“It got tipped up enough that he couldn’t push it back and with him gasping and screaming, it filled his throat and some of it got inhaled into the lungs,” Patricia said.

In a panic, Patricia rushed to her son’s aid.

“By the time that I got to him, he had wax all over his face, hands and chest and I got him into the bathroom, cleaned out all the wax that I could but he was turning blue and struggling,” Patricia said.

“I got the the two kids ready, we jumped into the van and we made it to the hospital as fast as we possibly could,” Connor Davidson, Rhys’ father, said.

Rhys was rushed to hospital in Camrose, then taken to the Stollery Children’s Hospital’s pediatric intensive care unit.

“The whole ride to the hospital, he was dying in my arms and it’s thanks to the amazing team here (at the hospital) that he has a chance to fight right now and that he’s alive,” Patricia said.

View image in full screen

Doctors rarely, if ever, see a case like Rhys’, but Patricia said they were able to remove most the wax. Still, some coats his lungs, leading to other complications.

“It’s not that he has massive amounts of wax down there anymore — he still has some in the lower lobes they are still bringing out — it’s the inflammation and the toxicity in his lungs that’s making him struggle,” Patricia said.

The Davidsons said they don’t know how long Rhys will have to be in the hospital, but hope he can begin to recover soon.

A GoFundMe has been created to help support the family while they stay close to their son.