A local council in Perth’s north west will install dozens of anti-choking devices alongside defibrillators in public places following the tragic death of toddler Zaire “ZaZa” Bwoga.
At a meeting on Tuesday, in what is believed to be an Australian first, City of Joondalup councillors voted in favour of a motion to install LifeVac airway clearance devices at all of its 38 council-run facilities.
ZaZa’s father Brian Bwoga has been campaigning for the lifesaving equipment to be made available and accessible after his son died while choking on a grape at Burns Beach, near the Illuka Foreshore in Joondalup on January 15.
READ MORE: ‘It pinned him down’: Boy, 12, needed surgery after brutal kangaroo attack
The 22-month-old happy and cheeky boy was playing on the shore when a toddler friend gave him a grape.
Despite Bwoga’s frantic efforts to apply CPR, and paramedics rushing to the scene, ZaZa could not be saved.
“It all happened so quickly. Literally, within five minutes, my son was dead,” Bwoga told 9news.com.au in May.
“He died in my arms.”
Speaking after the vote, Bwoga said he still missed his son ZaZa “every single day” but he was thrilled the council was helping support his legacy.
One of the LifeVac devices would be placed alongside a defibrillator outside a toilet block on the Illuka Foreshore, less than 100 metres from where he desperately tried to revive ZaZa, Bwoga said.
Former paramedic Simon Gould, who introduced the LifeVac to Australia in 2016, told the council the device had helped save the lives of 40 children nationwide since then and around 2,900 people across the globe.
The portable devices can be used in an emergency when the standard current choking protocol has been followed without success.
Bwoga said installing the LifeVacs would cost the City of Joondalup very little – council estimates put the price at $5200 – but the move would hopefully be priceless in its potential to save lives.
“I told them, it will cost less than $6000 to install these LifeVacs, but it cost me $15,000 to bury my son,” Bwoga said.
Bwoga said he was far from done in his campaign.
The father will make an address in WA state parliament today at the invitation of Hillarys MP Caitlin Collins about his advocacy work.
In addition to campaigning for the provision of LifeVacs in public places, Bwoga has been calling for authorities to make it mandatory for warning labels to be placed on packaged grapes and signage to be added in stores selling loose grapes.
In May, Bwoga launched a Change.org petition calling for the labelling change.
In Australia, there are currently no labelling requirements relating to choking hazards.
Statistics from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show there were 134 injury cases of choking and suffocation relating to food among children aged four and under in 2021-2022.
During the same period, there were two infant deaths recorded from choking or suffocation because of food obstructing the respiratory tract.
“I am getting greedy but I want these labels,” Bwoga said, adding that his son’s death had forced him to put aside his usually reserved nature in a bid to fight for change.
“I was a shy person. Before this, I couldn’t stand and address people. But what I’ve come to realise in this journey is that you don’t know your strength until you’re pushed to the limit.”
links to content on ABC
9News
