Articles labeled: irene skurr

Irene Skurr of Canterbury, New Zealand died when a blood clot traveled from a recent leg injury up into her lung. In a sad turn of fate, Ms. Skurr was breastfeeding her 10-month-old son Cameron at the time, and he suffocated and died when she collapsed on top of him:

The Lincoln woman was an ardent supporter of breastfeeding and she and Cameron appeared in The Press in August in support of breastfeeding rights.

Sergeant Danny Harker, of the Selwyn police, said the deaths were an “absolute tragedy”.

“It’s deeply traumatising for the family and the police staff that attended,” he said on Monday. “It’s a total accident and our thoughts go out to the family for their loss.”

Friends of Skurr yesterday recalled a “people person” who was excited about being a new mother.

The co-ordinator of a Lincoln breastfeeding support group, Tui Wagstaff, said Skurr had been very committed to the group and had attended before and after giving birth. “She was very pleasant, a nice lady – always happy to stop and have a chat. She was pleased to be having her first baby and looking after it. It was a shock to everyone.”

Wagstaff said the tragedy of Skurr dying while breastfeeding was simply a freak occurrence. “I’ve spoken to a number of mothers and we’ve all said she could have been doing anything – driving, for example.”

The story seems to be pushing the irony of a breastfeeding advocate killing her baby while breastfeeding, but obviously the same bad ending could have happened even if she had been merely holding the infant. But I guess that doesn’t make for a good story angle…