"Can you pick your son up? He needs to go to hospital."
Of course, at that point my mind is racing and wondering what fate had befallen him. Was it broken limbs? Disfigurement of some sort maybe? Or maybe worse. Maybe it was some form of illness that could be life threatening.
Imagine having that last thought hanging over you every time you put your children to bed. Will they wake up the next day or will some microscopic organism do something terrible in the night.
For most of us, we don't have that thought. Our fantastic health service offers us the opportunity to have our children vaccinated against the most common risks of childhood disease. But that option isn't open to millions of parents in other countries.
The next paragraphs are taken directly from the Typecast blog by Nickie. Please pop over there to find out more.
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Currently one in five children worldwide do not receive vaccinations of any kind leaving them vulnerable to potentially life-threatening diseases. Ahead of the Global Alliance for Vaccinations (GAVI) summit, lead by David Cameron in London in June, Save the Children are following the Cold Trail of a vaccine from London to Mozambique - so called because vaccines have to be kept cold even in difficult circumstances.
Going with Save The Children on the Cold Trail this year is a well-known and much-loved member of the parent blogging community. Christine Mosler, who blogs at Thinly Spread is determined to raise awareness and collate the information needed at the GAVI summit to convince the world leaders to make available the necessary funds that will allow vaccinations to become freely available. Currently 4 million children die every year because they don't get access to vital, live-saving vaccines.
How can you help?
YOU can sign the petition on the Save The Children website.
YOU can pass on this information on Facebook, Twitter (hashtag #passiton), forums, your blog, anywhere. Copy this post word for word if you need to.
YOU can use the image below to show your support - right-click and save it to your computer then use it as your avatar, Twitpic it, upload it to Facebook and tag your friends in it, print it out and pass it on.
YOU can encourage people to sign the petition.
YOU can help save lives.
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It really does take seconds, but every extra name on the petition does put an extra pressure on World Leaders to do something.
So as you put your children to bed tonight and tell them that you'll see them in the morning, spare a thought for those who that is a hope, not an expectation.
Oh and my son had bitten through part of his tongue. He walks round like Scooby Doo most of the time so it was an accident waiting to happen. He has made an excellent recovery and didn't need stitches. He now likes to eat peas and carrots. Result.
