It's a SAD DAY

I just wanted to send this out to everyone I know. My mom's co-worker's 4 year old son choked to death this Tuesday. After hearing about what happened I realized that I don't think a lot of people realize that a simple thing like a hot dog could be a choking hazard. I know that my son has been eatingcorn dogs and hot dogs since he was probably 3 years old and most of the time he would just eat thehot dog in a bun just like everyone else. The article below is from this morning's newspaperon the front of the local section and this story has been on the news. PLEASE, get this article outto anyone you know who has little ones. This is the 2nd time someone I've known has lost a childdue to choking on food. Thanks for taking the time to read this. ____________________________________________________________________________
Fremont boy chokes to death on hot dogVisitation for 4-year-old will be Wednesday, Mass on ThursdayBy Linh Tat, STAFF WRITERInside Bay Area
FREMONT — Some of Enrique Cardenas III's favorite pastimes were going to the park with his mother and half-sisters, accompanying his father to work and playing video games with his grandmother.
The moments he spent with his family were happy ones, although short-lived.
Cardenas, 4, died Tuesday, when he choked on a hot dog at his Fremont home.
Injuries or deaths resulting from airway obstruction — choking, strangulation or suffocation — among children is a common problem. About 80 percent of children 4 and younger who were rushed to emergency rooms in 2003 were treated for airway obstruction, said Mike Livingston, spokesman for Safe Kids Worldwide, previously known as the National SAFE KIDS Campaign.
In 2002, 168 children nationwide died from choking, with 42 percent of those cases being food-related, he said.
When it comes to food, young children are most at risk of choking on small, round foods, such as hot dogs, candies, nuts, grapes, carrots and popcorn, according to Safe Kids. And, according to Adoption.com, hot dogs are the No. 1 food that causes choking in children.
Born at Washington Hospital on Feb. 2, 2001, Cardenas grew up in a house near Blacow Road and Mowry Avenue.
He was an active and social boy who loved playing with his cat, Mi Nina, going to Chuck E. Cheese's and Great America, or riding his bicycle.
He developed a love for cars through his father, Enrique Cardenas II, who teaches an auto shop class through the Mission Valley Regional Occupational Program. The 4-year-old's favorite cars were the PT Cruiser, MINI Cooper and the HUMMER.
"When he saw those cars on the road, he would always point them out. They always caught his attention," his father said Thursday.
Cardenas also loved watching cartoons, particularly SpongeBob SquarePants. The family will have SpongeBob characters painted on his casket.
"He was the perfect kid. Nobody could ask for anything better," Cardenas' father said.
In addition to his father, Cardenas is survived by his mother, Benita Cardenas of Fremont; his half-sisters, Vilma and Valerie Perez of Fremont; his grandmother, Vilma Robelo of Fremont; and his grandfather, EnriqueCardenas Sr. of Union City.
Visitation will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday at Machado's Hillside Chapel, 1051 Harder Road, Hayward.
Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church, 41933 Blacow Road, Fremont, followed by burial at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, 26320 Mission Blvd., Hayward.
Cardenas will be buried in the same plot as his paternal grandmother.