{"id":9000,"date":"2025-11-28T10:17:56","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T11:17:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/?p=9000"},"modified":"2025-12-03T21:33:53","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T21:33:53","slug":"a-single-kiss-left-my-daughter-fighting-for-her-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/2025\/11\/28\/a-single-kiss-left-my-daughter-fighting-for-her-life\/","title":{"rendered":"A single kiss left my daughter fighting for her life"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Mum Destiny Smith had never imagined that a family dinner gathering at Thanksgiving <\/a>would mark the moment her two year-old daughter would begin a frightening journey that would leave doctors unsure whether she would survive. Friends and relatives had been happily hugging and kissing the toddler in the days beforehand, a habit Destiny had always allowed and welcomed without a second thought. Until then she had only known RSV as something that troubled very young babies or the elderly, not an infection that could push a toddler into severe respiratory illness. (Pictures: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The first warning signs appeared around Thanksgiving 2024 when Destiny’s daughter started to sniffle and come down with what looked like a routine seasonal illness. Destiny, from Lake County, Florida, watched her carefully, aware something wasn’t quite right, yet unable to place specifically what it was that was wrong. As the hours passed by, her daughter\u2019s breathing changed and her chest began to move in a way that made Destiny\u2019s concern. Her partner Tristan, 27, also sensed that this was no ordinary virus. Together they decided the safest option was to take her straight to hospital for assessment. (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Hospital staff quickly admitted the little girl overnight and diagnosed respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory infection that can cause bronchitis or pneumonia. Though doctors had initially hoped that monitoring and treatment would stabilise her, Destiny sensed the situation shifting in a way that felt increasingly ominous. She said that the little girl’s breathing pattern looked strange in a way she’d never seen before. (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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On her second day in hospital, the toddler weakened significantly, leaving both parents terrified as they watched her oxygen levels fall – despite ongoing care. Destiny recalled how rapidly the condition escalated, with medical teams administering breathing treatments every two hours yet still struggling to keep her stable. She said: \u2018Throughout the night, she got really, really bad.\u2019 By that point doctors agreed that she needed specialist care and prepared the child for an emergency transfer. (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Soon, the youngster was airlifted to the paediatric ICU, a step that confirmed just how serious the infection had become. Destiny said, \u2018After two days, they life-flighted her to the PICU, they were giving her breathing treatments every two hours, her oxygen levels kept going down and down.\u2019 She added: \u2018One minute she\u2019d be okay, and the next she wouldn\u2019t, it was very, very scary.\u2019 (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The mum said: \u2018The doctors weren\u2019t sure whether it would take a turn for the worse, or if it would get better, it was just horrible. It was probably the most terrifying thing I\u2019d ever been through, not knowing whether my child was going to survive the night, or if I would have to plan a funeral. My boyfriend and I stayed with her from the day she got admitted to the very end. It scared the life out of us.\u2019 (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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After eight days of treatment, five of them in intensive care, their daughter finally began to recover. Doctors allowed Destiny to take her home with an inhaler that had to be used every four hours for three weeks. She was later sent to a specialist to rule out underlying health issues but no cause was found. Destiny said: \u2018They couldn\u2019t find anything, it was just something that happened out of the blue.\u2019 (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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In the year since, Destiny’s been forced to reconsider every casual kiss, every friendly cuddle and every hand placed on her child\u2019s face by well-meaning relatives. She said relatives had been kissing and handling her daughter in the days before she fell ill, something she had never worried about before. She said: \u2018We\u2019d had her out and about with family members, and people love giving kisses to babies. People were putting their hands on my child, and they might not have washed them.\u2019 Her message now is simple. \u2018I always tell people to be careful with letting people who aren\u2019t in their immediate family hug and kiss them, because their kid could be next. I think this is something really important to raise awareness of I had no idea it could get so bad that kids end up in the ICU. I just want other parents to know how quickly it can get serious. Please trust your gut and get them checked if something feels off.\u2019 (Picture: Destiny Smith\/SWNS)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\n\t\t\t\tAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google<\/title><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"share-bar-preferred-source__label\">Add as preferred source<\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/a><\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mum Destiny Smith had never imagined that a family dinner gathering at Thanksgiving would mark the moment her two year-old daughter would begin a frightening journey that would leave doctors unsure whether she would survive. Friends and relatives had been happily hugging and kissing the toddler in the days beforehand, a habit Destiny had always […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9000"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9000"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9000\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9011,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9000\/revisions\/9011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/curiousdrive.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}