A South Carolina mother-of-four is urging parents to childproof their homes after her son smashed through a window and was left 'an inch from death.'
Alyssa Dubois's four-year-old son Aceson and was playing with his older sister Aliah at their home in Charleston in March 2024 when things suddenly went south.
In the midst of a game of cops and robbers, nine-year-old Aliah 'apprehended' him by tying his legs together - causing Aceson to trip and crash through a sheet glass window about two feet off the floor.
As the glass shattered, Alyssa ran into the room to find her screaming son covered in blood and with a four-inch gash in his neck.
The 25-year-old mother recalled: 'He was waddling away as if he was being arrested but the speed he was running and the weight he was meant he went straight through the window headfirst.
'I heard Aceson start to scream and I ran to him and saw blood everywhere. It was just spewing out of him.
'He was holding his neck and when I took a look the blood was spitting from his neck. He didn't go completely through the window and his hip to his legs were hanging out so he was able to pull himself back in.'
Horrifying images show a gaping four inch wide, 1.5 inch deep hole running across his neck, from the mouth to his ear - barely missing his jugular veins that are responsible for bringing blood back from the brain to the heart.
Aceson Dubois, now five, nearly died last year after he went through a window and ended up with a massive wound on his neck
Even minor damage to the jugular veins can lead to life-threatening hemorrhage, blood clots in the vein, inflammation of the vein wall and infections - all of which could cause serious brain damage and heart failure.
Alyssa is now calling on parents to protect their children by installing safety guards all around their homes and learn how to treat wounds.
Remembering how she attempted first aid to stop the flow of 'spitting' blood and waited for emergency services, the young mother said: 'I was terrified, I thought that was it. I thought he had hit a main artery and was going to die.
'I grabbed his neck and pinched everything I could. I used the laundry that we had on the couch and I began to stuff his neck and had [the wound] closed.
'My hands were slipping all over my son because of all the blood all over him. He was just screaming on the porch and kept saying "mommy, please don’t let me die."
'It [the glass] missed his jugular [veins] by an inch. He ended up slicing his saliva gland in half and the bottom half of his ear off.'
The saliva, or salivary, glands are located in the head and neck region and are responsible for lubricating the mouth, swallowing, digestion and protect teeth against harmful bacteria.
As Aceson reached the McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina, he immediately underwent a two-hour emergency surgery to have his neck, saliva gland and ear stitched back together.
Alyssa said: 'The whole time while I was waiting for him to come out of his first surgery, I couldn't stop shaking and I felt sick. After surgery, when I went in to see him, I looked at him asleep and it broke my heart into a million pieces.
'I was happy because I knew he was going to live but the darker side of me was like this is what I'd be looking at if he didn't make it through.
'What broke my heart the most was he turned to me and said, "thank you for not letting me die."
Aceson had a second surgery to a week later to remove some stitches and was discharged to make a full recovery at home.
A year later from the accident, Aceson has no permanent nerve damage and is healthy.
Since then, both Aceson, now five, and Alyssa have been diagnosed with PTSD and are receiving counseling.
The terrified mother revealed that the kindergartener is fearful of going near windows and every time Alyssa hears a loud noise, she gets anxious her kids could be hurt.
As a result, she has removed the window Aceson fell through from her mobile home and has covered others with furniture to help stop a repeat of the tragic accident.
She is now urging parents to childproof their homes and to educate themselves on basic first aid training so they know how to stop bleeding fast.
Experts note that common ways to childproof your home include securing heavy furniture, covering outlets, installing safety latches on cabinets and drawers and using baby gates to restrict access to dangerous areas.
Alyssa is also warning other parents to learn how to pack a wound - which involves putting materials such as gauze into the wound to help control bleeding and prevent infection.
She shared: 'At the time of the accident, I was healthcare trained so I was very knowledgeable and knew what I needed to do to help control the bleeding before we got to the hospital.'
'Learning how to properly pack a wound when there is uncontrollable bleeding is something every mom should know. Not even just moms, people in general should know how to do this.'
She specifies that parents should ensure their windows are made of shatterproof glass and tape gymnastic mats in corners and on windows to safeguard young children.
Each year, about 2,300 children younger than 15 years die from unintentional injuries in their homes and over 3.4 million children experience an unintentional home-related injury in the US.
Additionally, the World Health Organization estimates that about 270,000 children under the age of five die each year from accidents at home across the world.
Childproofing could prevent an estimated 55 percent of household injuries in children 10 years old and younger.