When a Sweet Tart turned Deadly

Think back on your most memorable road trip.

My life has held some epic road trips. But the most memorable one was the one in which I almost lost my daughter.

My husband, Billy, and I met some members of his family at Disneyland in 1989. We took our 4 year old, Jason, and our almost 2 year old, Joanna. We drove our camper, which had a bench seat so we could all sit together in the front. It was a 6 hour trip each way, and we were heading for home in the late evening on Highway 5.

The kids were tired and hungry. I brought snacks and candy to tide them over until we needed to stop, at which time we would find someplace to eat. I gave Joanna a sweet tart candy. Sweet tarts were large, hard, chalky and sweet candies that were shaped in a disc. As soon as she put it in her mouth, I could see she was choking. I yelled to Billy that she was choking, and he pulled the camper over to the side of the highway. I was trying to give her the Heimlich maneuver, but it wasn’t working. Billy opened the passenger door and took Joanna out, first putting her over his knee and slapping her back, then holding her upside down and hitting her on the back. The candy didn’t come out. Time was passing quickly and I began to get hysterical. My baby girl was turning blue. God, is this really happening, my mind screamed. Is my child going to die on the side of the highway? I began to cry and pray. “She’s turning blue!” I screamed at Billy. He took his middle finger and shoved it in her throat, something you’re not supposed to do. He told me later that he felt the edge of the candy with his finger, and he gave it a flick. A flick of his finger and, by some miracle, that sweet tart fell from Joanna’s mouth. Pink edged across her face and she began to cry. We all hugged her and hugged each other. We sat in the truck for awhile, trying to calm down.

Finally, we got back on the road and started looking for a place to stop. Incredibly, Joanna reached for another sweet tart. I’m not proud of this, but I threw that bag of snacks out the window. And Billy drove very late into the night until we were home safe, and together we carried our children in and put them to bed. We marveled at the miracle of our family, and how lucky we were.

While that may not be the best road trip our family ever took, it is certainly the most memorable.