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On his last night, Daxon Stankey went to bed happy and content, just like any other night. At 10 months old, he was busy all day, crawling and happily tucking into any food he was offered. The mere sight of a snack was enough to make the baby grin. It wouldn?t be long before he started to walk?he was already trying.
Because his mom, Krystal Needham, was trying to wean Daxon off breast milk, her boyfriend volunteered to put her son in his crib for the night. When he came back downstairs, he reported that Daxon had settled on his belly. ?I didn?t really worry about it,? says Needham. ?He always rolls onto his tummy anyway, even if I put him down on his back.?
When Needham woke up in the morning, her first thought was that it seemed late. She went into Daxon?s room to check on him. Lying in the middle of his crib, fists clenched, her young son was lifeless. ?He was face down and he was gone. It seemed like he had been for hours,? recalled Needham, who, five months after Daxon died, is still wracked with grief at her last memories of her little boy. She?s still trying to make sense of his death. ?He didn?t suffocate. He could turn his head, he could roll over, he was almost walking,? she says. ?His face looked smushed, like something out of a nightmare. He didn?t look like my baby at all.?
Later, when the local Calgary medical examiner called, Needham asked the pathologist if Daxon had died from SIDS?sudden infant death syndrome. The term SIDS has been used ...