A mother claims due to excessive use of gadgets, her 10-year-old daughter had seizures

At around 4 AM on April 18, beauty queen and registered nurse Lovely Gervecio Tajan was awakened by a noise from the bed of her two kids.

When she checked on what was going on, she saw her 10-year-old in a state wherein a parent would never want to see their child go through. 

She posted an alarming experience she went through with her eldest daughter, Michaela. 

“Today [was] the scariest and worst day of my life.

“My 10-year-old daughter, Michaela, was uncontrollably shaking, her body was really stiff, drooling and the scariest part was her eyes were wide open and rolled upwards, she was unconscious and unresponsive.”

As a mom, the first thing she did was hug her child to try and stop the shaking, check her pulse, and shout her name. Even as a nurse, Lovely was taken aback and got consumed by panic that everything she studied was suddenly forgotten.

“Wala ako ibang naisip at naramdaman kundi takot. Takot na akala ko mawawala sa akin ang anak ko.”

When she finally realized that her daughter was having seizures, she did the steps needed to handle the patient. According to WebMD, the steps include keeping others out of the way, keep the patient away from sharp objects, don’t try to stop their movements, place them on their side, and time the attack.

Michaela was immediately brought to the ER as soon as her seizure stopped and thankfully, she hasn’t suffered from another attack since then.

Her child underwent a CT Scan for Awareness on Screen Time/Usage of Gadgets just a few days ago.

“This is the most traumatic yet eye-opener na nangyari sa buong buhay ko. Iba talaga pag sa sariling anak mo nangyari. Until now, bigla-bigla ako nagbre-breakdown as I can still picture out the face of my daughter when it happened. Hindi ko talaga kinaya,” Tajan said.

As the seizure was caused by the child’s over-exposure to gadgets and screens, the mom can’t help but blame herself as she didn’t get to monitor her kid and at times, just let them use the gadgets of their own free will.

Children nowadays are constantly exposed to too many gadgets, especially since the pandemic started and online classes have started. But an experience of a mom may serve as a reminder to other parents that even though their child uses laptops or tablets for their studies or entertainment, it will greatly benefit if their screen time is monitored.

Lovely then advised everyone: “I want to spread awareness na totoo talaga yung mga article na nakikita natin online about sa effects ng overuse ng mga cellphone, computer, tablets and even TV. Please manage, monitor and limit ang inyong mga kapatid, pamangkin and your kid’s screen time and prevent na mangyari ito.”

She also asked everyone to pray for her daughter’s health.

According to an article by World Vision Philippines, the excessive use of gadgets can cause physical and mental damage to children. A 2017 study then found that those who are highly exposed to gadgets will likely become overweight and develop seizures, just like what Michaela experienced.

It also said that kids’ thinking and emotional development, especially those under five years old, may permanently be damaged.

In a follow-up post, Lovely said that they didn’t get favorable results on her child’s electroencephalogram (EEG) but on April 19, the day of her birthday, they were able to take Michaela home from the hospital and have a simple celebratory dinner.