BEL AIR, Md. – The last moments of 17-month-old Hayden Fell’s life seemed like any other night. His family sang to him and his twin brother before putting them to bed. The next morning, Hayden’s father tried to wake him, but the toddler had passed away in his sleep.
Researchers at NYU Langone Health have discovered a potential link between seizures during sleep and sudden unexplained death in childhood. They analyzed home monitoring video that captured the deaths of seven sleeping toddlers, and five of the toddlers died shortly after movements that were considered to be brief seizures.
Similar to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in babies, SUDC occurs after a child’s first birthday. Little is known about SUDC, but some scientists have long suspected seizures may play a role.
The study’s senior author, Dr. Orrin Devinsky, emphasized the significance of the findings, stating, “We have video evidence which is in some ways the best evidence we may ever get of what’s happened to these kids.”
In conclusion, SUDC is estimated to claim over 400 lives a year in the U.S., most of which occur during sleep. The Fells had never even heard of SUDC until Hayden tragically passed away. The hope is that further research and investigation will provide crucial answers to prevent such heartbreaking tragedies from happening.