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Three-Month-Old Baby Dropped By Babysitter Taken Off Life Support, Parents Devastated

By Tito Ojo-Medubi
Published on: 21:10 PST, Dec 23, 2016

A New Jersey baby who was dropped on his head by a babysitter has died after been taken off life support.

Reece Modzelewski was being care for by a babysitter on Tuesday when he allegedly slipped from her hands and hit his head on the floor, according to the Daily Mail. Paramedics who arrived on the scene found the 3-month-old infant unconscious. When baby Reece was rushed to the hospital, he was given a “very poor prognosis.” His parents were told that he had sustained serious brain damage from the fall and would not recover.

His parents, Nicole Nicastro and Mark Modzelewski made the difficult decision Friday morning to take their only child off life support. He died 12:03 p.m. His 32-year-old father took to Facebook to pen his pain at losing a child so close to Christmas. He described the day as the worst day of his life.

“My little baby boy is dying and there’s nothing I can do to help or comfort him. I don’t know if he can hear, see, taste or touch anymore. My heart has been torn out of my chest. A second of misfortune will turn into a lifetime of pain as is the case with most tragedies. The fact that this [sic] happening so close to Christmas and right between both our birthdays will only make it more difficult…today will be the worst day of my life.”

Saddle Brook Volunteer paramedics had performed CPR on the 3-month-old infant before he was rushed to the Hackensack University Medical Center on Tuesday. The baby had been taken to the medical center under police escort and immediately placed on life support.

Police Chief Robert Kugler in his report said it was saddening to know that the boy had succumbed to his injuries. The police chief added that the death of the child was being jointly investigated by the Bergen County’s Prosecutor’s Office and the Saddle Brook Police Department. According to him, the police would look at additional information with regards to the tragedy and review medical records. The babysitter has not been identified and no charge as been filed yet against her.

Benjamin Franco who opened a GoFundMe page for Nicole and Mark to help with their funeral expenses said the doctors had revealed that there was nothing that could be done for the child. According to him, the doctors had said that he would not be able to function on his own. He described taking Reece Modzelewski off life support as the “hardest decision anyone will ever have to make” for their child.

This is not the first time that a baby would die of fatal injuries after being dropped on the head. In 2015, Katherine Howells accidentally dropped her baby on a tiled floor while visiting Santa’s grotto. The 35-year-old mother had taken her 5-month-old daughter, Sunaria to see Santa Claus for the first time when she slipped and fell on two Christmas trees.

The baby had been given an all-clear by doctors that she was fine. According to an inquest, the baby was not thought to be seriously injured and had left the event asleep. Unfortunately, the infant died in her father’s arms 24 hours before the New Year. Jessica Wheeler was working as an elf in a nearby Santa workshop and recalled the incident, describing the moment mother and child fell and the baby ended up awkwardly on her neck.

“I saw a woman at a coffee table. She sat up but fell to her right knocking down two Christmas trees. I then saw a baby in a white dress lying on her neck on the tiled floor. I realized the woman who fell was the baby’s mother. I had to climb over a group of children to get to mother and baby who were both crying. Mum was in shock.”

According to the Huffington Post, a 33-year-old mother was charged in the death of her 7-month-old baby after her 11-year-old son killed the child out of jealousy. The Charlotte mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter and abuse. An autopsy revealed that the baby had died from “subgaleal hemorrhage and hemorrhagic to the right eye, injuries to cheeks, forehead, nose, back of the head, lip, and has a torn frenulum.” The brother confessed that he had dropped his baby brother three times on his head before placing him in his crib.

[Featured Image by Furtseff/iStockPhoto]

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