I was driving on east on Balmoral near the corner of Magnolia around 12:15pm today and I saw an African-American women in her late 20’s (hair brown, shoulder length) rolling and thrashing on the sidewalk. At first I thought she had tripped or something then I saw her roll over and she had a male toddler in her arms. She stood him up. He was a little blond boy small framed with a tricycle near them with one of those chrome pushing poles. Then the women was diving and thrashing on the ground and the little tot stood shaking and crying. I tried to ask if the woman was ok and she looked at me with a cooky look and dove onto the ground again. Seconds later she was laying on the ground covering her butt with one hand and her head with the other and I thought she had maybe been injured on the nearby limestone boulders. I was calling 911 for assistance and asked if she needed an ambulance. She said No.. A few seconds later she stood up, put her hair back into a bun collected sunglasses, keys and other things strewn on the grass, calmly gathered the child and acted like nothing ever happened. I asked if she was epileptic, again no real response. She looked but did not talk to me. I tried to pull my car around to get closer to the sidewalk and they were gone. I am very concerned for the little guy. I seem to remember him having had a little fisherman’s hat, light colored shorts and shirt, and was quite upset. I don’t know if this women is ill but that was crazy behavior.
Friday
Andersonville, Chicago, Il.
Received Friday, August 21, 2009
I was driving on east on Balmoral near the corner of Magnolia around 12:15pm today and I saw an African-American women in her late 20’s (hair brown, shoulder length) rolling and thrashing on the sidewalk. At first I thought she had tripped or something then I saw her roll over and she had a male toddler in her arms. She stood him up. He was a little blond boy small framed with a tricycle near them with one of those chrome pushing poles. Then the women was diving and thrashing on the ground and the little tot stood shaking and crying. I tried to ask if the woman was ok and she looked at me with a cooky look and dove onto the ground again. Seconds later she was laying on the ground covering her butt with one hand and her head with the other and I thought she had maybe been injured on the nearby limestone boulders. I was calling 911 for assistance and asked if she needed an ambulance. She said No.. A few seconds later she stood up, put her hair back into a bun collected sunglasses, keys and other things strewn on the grass, calmly gathered the child and acted like nothing ever happened. I asked if she was epileptic, again no real response. She looked but did not talk to me. I tried to pull my car around to get closer to the sidewalk and they were gone. I am very concerned for the little guy. I seem to remember him having had a little fisherman’s hat, light colored shorts and shirt, and was quite upset. I don’t know if this women is ill but that was crazy behavior.
I was driving on east on Balmoral near the corner of Magnolia around 12:15pm today and I saw an African-American women in her late 20’s (hair brown, shoulder length) rolling and thrashing on the sidewalk. At first I thought she had tripped or something then I saw her roll over and she had a male toddler in her arms. She stood him up. He was a little blond boy small framed with a tricycle near them with one of those chrome pushing poles. Then the women was diving and thrashing on the ground and the little tot stood shaking and crying. I tried to ask if the woman was ok and she looked at me with a cooky look and dove onto the ground again. Seconds later she was laying on the ground covering her butt with one hand and her head with the other and I thought she had maybe been injured on the nearby limestone boulders. I was calling 911 for assistance and asked if she needed an ambulance. She said No.. A few seconds later she stood up, put her hair back into a bun collected sunglasses, keys and other things strewn on the grass, calmly gathered the child and acted like nothing ever happened. I asked if she was epileptic, again no real response. She looked but did not talk to me. I tried to pull my car around to get closer to the sidewalk and they were gone. I am very concerned for the little guy. I seem to remember him having had a little fisherman’s hat, light colored shorts and shirt, and was quite upset. I don’t know if this women is ill but that was crazy behavior.
This is worrisome. It does sound like it could have been an epileptic seizure, especially in that she did not appear to respond to you. It is unfortunate that she left with the child.
ReplyDeleteIf it was a Grand Mal seizure, and from what you posted it certainly sounds like one, she would have messed her pants, with urine and occasionally feces. 14 years of CNA/CMA/EMT experience talking here!
ReplyDeleteHeaven knows what she was doing, but this nanny needs to be observed by the parents for a while.
Definitely sounds like she had a seizure. I hope the parents see this. I wonder if they know she's epileptic. :(
ReplyDeletePetit Mal seizures can be just an episode of staring for 15-30 sec. There is usually no muscle contractions involved. Like I said before I don't think it was a grand mal, she would've lost consciousness, more than likely. Alcohol intoxication can cause seizures. Ack!! Imagine if this nanny was drunk and having seizures!! I hope mom sees this!
ReplyDeleteMaybe this was her first seizure and she did not know what to do. Maybe she went home and told the parents. The first one can be scary and maybe she was totally embarassed.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like epilepsy to me, my mother is epileptic and people would ask us all the time if she needed an ambulance and the answer was always no because there is nothing an ambulance can do. That very well might have been her problem.
ReplyDeleteI have epilepsy. At 7 months of age, my life changed forever-I was in an accident with my grandmother (God Bless her soul) and my brother. Granny was either hit or hit someone else; the impact sent my brother's forehead into the dashboard. Meanwhile, I tumbled out of my brother's arms, and hit the back of my head on the floor of the car. If I am correct, I suffered an injury to my brainstem, located at the top of my neck area.
ReplyDeleteWhen I have a seizure, my eyes roll back into my head, and I fall to the floor. I black out, meanwhile, pee on myself and wake up a few minutes later, dazed and confused, with a severe headache and a bite to my tongue.
I suffered a seziure while waiting for a bus. I saw the bus coming, and the next thing I find myself waking up in the emergency room.
OP: Did you notice anything else, like staggering or staring off into space. That's what I do following a seziure.
Whatever this was, it sounds scary.
UH, this sounds like a Penecostal/ Holy Roller moment, one in which the person is overcome with the Holy Spirit and begins rolling around on the ground and/or speaking in tongues. Since she did not acknowledge the offer of help or the queries into her well being, I suspect that this was the cause of the scene described by the onlooker.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't this have been the method of displaying the toddlers behavior so that they see how they look? I can't recall the name of the book/parenting method? Perhaps someone can post it?
ReplyDeleteThe method where if the child is whining you whine back at the child. Maybe this nanny was mimicking the child's tantrum? I've never heard of any displays this extreme (most of us would be far too embarrassed).
Just a thought.
I've seen a nanny throw a tantrum when a child got out of hand before. Could be what she was doing -nothing stops a tantrum quite like being faced with one!
ReplyDeleteif my nanny behaved like that on perfect, I'd fire her; after I knocked her teeth out.
ReplyDeleteI just want to clarify a bit of the info posted here. This does not sound like a tonic-clonic seizure to me (formerly known as Grand Mal Seizure).
ReplyDelete-in the clonic phase the nanny would not have been able to consciously stop the seizure, place the toddler standing nearby, then resume her seizure
-immediately after the seizure there is a post-ictal phase that can vary significantly but would include some degree of confusion/disorientation/drowsines. MissDee described this well in her post.
-Nanny would not have been able to simply stop seizing, stand up, and calmly gather her belongings and fix her hair
-not all tonic-clonic seizures are accompanied by incontinence
-alcohol intoxication does not cause seizures; alcohol withdrawal causes seizures
I suspect there is something more concerning than epilepsy going on with this nanny. Good sighting OP.
Sounds like a seizure. After seizures people tend to be very disoriented and embarrassed so possibly she didn't respond to you because of this.
ReplyDeleteAnd seizures come in many forms, not just the Grand Mal kind.