4-year-old boy dies after dental procedure

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A 4-year-old boy is dead after a routine trip to the dentist and his mother has a warning for parents about anesthesia.

Thmeka Curry, whose 4-year-old son Mykel died after a dental procedure, said she is still in shock over the death of her little boy.

Curry took Mykel to the dentist's office last Friday. He has had procedures under anesthesia at that office before. But in the recovery room, Mykel wasn't waking up and one of the employees noticed he stopped breathing.

“It has not actually hit me yet that my son is not coming back and I'm just numb at this point,” Thmeka Curry told Portland, Oregon FOX station KPTV. “I was eventually asked to leave when he started the chest compressions… I just went into shock like, ‘This is not really happening right now.’  So I’m just texting his dad and coworker and friend and they're just like, ‘He’ll be ok.’”

Paramedics rushed Mykel to the hospital, but he died soon after. Curry is still trying to figure out what happened, but she didn't feel the need to worry.

“I wasn't concerned about it. He’s had it done before so it wasn’t anything I was afraid of at that point,” she recalled.

Curry says Mykel was a sweet and happy boy, and he was developmentally delayed. That's why they went to this dental office, because they specialize in treating children with special needs, but now she has strong advice for other parents.

“Any time your kid might get put to sleep, make you sure you ask lots of questions,” she warned.