Doctors had to run to save a one-year-old boy on March 5!

A terrible tragedy occurred in Sarajevo on March 5 this year, the second to last day of month-long traffic blockades due to demonstrations in the capital, the BH news agency Patria (NAP) has learned.

Namely, as confirmed to us by the Emergency Service, a one-year-old child died in Sarajevo due to suffocation after swallowing a rubber ball. However, as we learned, the Emergency Service vehicle was stopped on its way to the unfortunate family's home due to the traffic blockade, so doctors and the child's parents got out and ran towards each other in a dramatic attempt to save the child's life.

Despite the doctors' superhuman efforts, as we learned, the tragedy could not be prevented. According to the official police report, traffic in the capital was blocked that day due to protests until 6 PM, and the drama unfolded precisely at that time.

As we were officially told by the Emergency Service, on March 5 at 6 PM, a call was received that a small child had swallowed a foreign object in a Sarajevo street in the city center (address known to the editorial office) and was showing no signs of life.

- Immediately after receiving the call, the team headed to the address and was near the scene within five minutes, but then encountered a traffic blockade, so the team decided to proceed on foot along the street. The mother ran towards them carrying the child – the doctors told us.

Resuscitation, as we were informed, continued, and it was decided to immediately transfer the child to the General Hospital "Prim. dr. Abdulah Nakaš" due to its proximity and the availability of an anesthesiologist and an otolaryngologist specialist. Unfortunately, as Dr. Sena Softić-Taljanović, director of the Emergency Service in Sarajevo, told us, resuscitation was unsuccessful at 6:50 PM and death was pronounced.

- They fought for all 45 minutes. My team found this case very difficult to handle, and some even went on sick leave afterwards. We arrived on time, despite the doctors having to leave their vehicles and proceed on foot. No one should be blamed or judged prematurely – she says.

According to the police bulletin, on March 5, two days after the police stopped the week-long blockades of the city center with a decisive action, traffic was blocked until 6 PM.

- On 03/05/2014, at 12:00 PM, about 100 citizens gathered in front of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina building, joined at 1:40 PM by about 30 taxi drivers without appropriate licenses. During the protests, traffic was blocked at the intersections of streets: Alipašina - Maršala Tita - Hamze Hume, Terezija - Skenderija, Reisa Džemaludina Čauševića - Obala Kulina Bana, municipality Centar Sarajevo in the period from 12:30 PM to 6:00 PM, after which the citizens dispersed – the bulletin states, reports NAP.

On the forum of the portal "Klix", two days after the tragedy, one of the users posted information about this event and wondered if it was related to the blockades that had lasted for days.