Charlie DeFraia was enjoying a summertime yoghurt on the front porch, sipping through a metal straw, when the four-year-old lost his balance and fell. It was an ordinary moment that nearly cost him his life.
The straw pierced Charlie’s tongue and throat and punctured his carotid artery, leading his internist father to realise just how serious the injury might be. The carotid is one of four major arteries supplying blood and oxygen to the brain.
