Advocacy Testimonials

My family and I came across Ashley (that water bead lady) in November of 2021 when my 2 year old autistic son Oliver ingested an unknown amount of sand slime bought at a local Dollar General. It was very frustrating and scary having a sick child and not knowing the ingredients of the product. 

The  only advice I could get from the pediatricians was to call poison  control, however poison control couldn’t find any information on the  specific product my son ingested and told me to contact the manufacturer who was in china. I was sent on a wild goose chase trying to find any helpful information as to why my son was so sick from a children’s toy. (Vomiting, white diarrhea, no appetite, lethargy) 

The  manufacturer was less than helpful and ended up taking weeks to get the  information needed from them. The packaging had no warnings except to  “wash hands” after handling.  Days went on and my son was not getting better, I was continuously dismissed by my son’s provider and even poison control. 

That’s  when Ashley stepped in, she was able to get me in direct contact with  my region’s Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU)  Director who contacted my son’s doctor, from there we had X-rays done  and blood work which showed a bowel blockage caused by the sand slime  along with abnormal blood work. The PEHSU got me in contact with a board certified physician who actually had training in occupational / environmental medicine and medical toxicology. 

They were able to go over  the product safety sheets with me, and we went through each ingredient  one by one to help me understand what was in the product and what it  meant for my son. 

We were then able to get the necessary treatment to help Oliver.  Because of Ashley and the knowledge she provided, I was able to effectively advocate for my son and save his life.

Ashley (demi_the_vlog_dog, on Tik Tok)