It was a sultry day. Swara was feeling uneasy and tired. She had finished her gym session and was just out of the shower. Her throat was sore. She had a cold too. She gargled and had a teaspoon of her favourite cough syrup – benadryl. Swara had a special memory attached to this cough syrup. She laughed remembering an incident and sat down to write.
‘Hello again,
I was in the second standard when this happened. My health was always a matter of concern for my parents. I looked much smaller than kids my age and my immunity was very low. I used to fall sick very often. Every morning, before I could get up from bed, they would first check if I was okay and invariably I had a fever, a sore throat or atleast a cough or running nose. My mischiefs continued irrespective of whether I was sick or not.
So, this morning I woke up with a bad cough and cold. Those days, benadryl was the most common cough syrup available and we always had a bottle at home. I loved the taste of benadryl and would happily have it whenever mom gave me a spoonful. Normally, mom would give it to me and she would immediately place it on the top shelf, out of my reach. This time however, someone rang the bell and she went to answer the door. She left the bottle on the table itself. This was a good opportunity, I started drinking directly from the bottle. My intention was only to have the usual dose which mom would give, but it was so tasty that I was tempted to have another sip. This went on, until I finished the entire bottle. It was a new bottle, almost full. I had stained my frock also in the process of drinking it, which I never realised.
Meanwhile, it was the postman who was at the door and mom got busy checking the post. She soon forgot about the bottle. I now went in search of mom. She noticed that my dress was stained. She immediately went to check the bottle, which she found was empty now. She couldn’t believe her eyes. I confessed to having consumed all of it. Mom knew what to do. She took a glass of water, added salt to it and made me drink the whole glass. I was feebly crying now as I realized from her face and her tone that it was wrong to drink the full bottle. From my point of view, what struck me as wrong was that the bottle was empty and we would have to spend money to buy a new one. It didn’t occur to me that it was medicine overdose!
I was confused. I obediently gulped the saline solution. Mom then took me to the bathroom, where she gently inserted two fingers inside my throat and induced vomiting. I soon threw up and there was a strong smell of cough syrup. I was made to drink another glass of saline and I threw up more. Then we went to see our family doctor. Our doctor knew what a naughty kid I was. He wasn’t surprised! He told mom she did the right thing by making me throw up. There was no other way to bring out the cough syrup from my system. He told her that there was nothing to worry, her presence of mind was indeed commendable and that I might just sleep for a long time. It would have turned bitter, had mom not acted on time. We came home and within an hour I fell asleep.
I woke up straight next morning, fresh, as if nothing happened. I couldn’t be blamed! Little did I know that it was a medicine and the dosage cannot be exceeded. I had happily drunk it off as if it were grape juice. Surprisingly the cough had vanished too when I woke up! By the way, I still do like the taste of benadryl.
Now I understand why they mention “keep out of reach of children” on the labels of bottles! I learnt a lesson that day because it never happened again!
So that was another story. See you all soon’
Swara now felt better.
