Sierra Greenlee’s day started normally.
She went to work, looking forward to seeing her loving daughter at the end of the day after being apart for one week.
Her little girl, Arya, was coming home from her father’s house and Greenlee could not wait to see her and listen to her stories.
“I was dreaming of the late morning breakfast and playtime we would have when we woke up,” Greenly wrote on Facebook. “When I got to the babysitter’s she had carried her to my car, my daughter was completely knocked out she had had a hard day. In an offhanded way I asked if she was breathing, joking. Until I put my hand on her little chest and I felt no movement.”
She immediately realized something was wrong.
Greenlee continued: “I ran her back inside and laid her down and started CPR on her little limp body. In my head I knew I needed to remain calm but I couldn’t.
“Finally, after what seemed like an hour which in actuality was probably only 15 minutes EMS got there and took over. For the next hour while they tried desperately to bring me back my baby.”
“I called my parents and her dad, I paced, I cried, I prayed.
“I thought of the fact that the last time I had seen my baby awake she was begging me not to go to work and I went anyway. I was thinking about what it would mean for me if she was gone. I thought of what it would be like to plan my child’s funeral and all the things we would miss out on.”
The devastating ordeal continued until she received the shattering news.
“I was there for maybe 10 minutes before a doctor came in. He said, ‘we did everything we could but unfortunately we were unable to revive her and she did not survive.’”
Greenly held her daughter and cried, stunned at what could’ve caused her sudden death.
“After about 30 minutes or so they came to me and told me they had run some tests and it appears she had had undiagnosed Type 1 Diabetes and her blood sugar level was in the 500’s.”
She had no idea. “I could not comprehend this information. How could my baby have Diabetes?
Later I found out that Diabetes is not something they test for in small children. They don’t typically test until they are school age and show signs.”
Greenlee now wants to spread awareness about diabetes and its impact on kids. She told The Western Journal: “In hindsight I noticed signs but at the time I wrote off as being a toddler.
“I had no idea it was not something that is automatically checked when they test their iron at their check-ups.”
She added: “The signs for Diabetes in toddlers are they drink a lot, pee a lot and are tired. It can also appear very suddenly.
“These signs are easily missed and overlooked because most toddlers do these things. The test is a simple blood sugar test that you have to request at their wellness check-up.”
Greenlee told the news outlet: “Sharing my story has brought me comfort, knowing that Arya’s memory will live on through the children who have been saved and the many lives she has touched.”
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