Boy, 7, Dies After Balloon Explodes In His Mouth

A seven-year-old boy choked to death after biting a balloon which burst in his mouth sending a piece of rubber flying into his throat.

Picture shows Alessandro Di Lorenzo Antinori, 7, in undated photo. He swallowed a piece of a burst air balloon and died two days later in a hospital. (Newsflash )

Victim Alessandro Di Lorenzo Antinori – who had Down’s Syndrome – had been playing when he bit into the inflated balloon on Friday, 24th February.

As it exploded – in the village of Ghizzole di Montegaldella, in the province of Vicenza, in the Veneto region of northern Italy – a piece of rubber flew back in his mouth, blocking his windpipe, according to local media.

His horrified grandmother tried to revive him while waiting for paramedics but he died in hospital two days later, after being declared brain dead in a coma.

Picture shows an announcement about church service before funeral of Alessandro Di Lorenzo Antinori, 7, in undated photo. Alessandro swallowed a piece of a burst air balloon and died two days later in a hospital. (Newsflash)

His parents – named as dad Luca Di Lorenzo and mother Carla Antinori – have agreed to donate his kidneys so that their son, who they adopted as a five-month-old baby, can live on.

Alessandro’s aunt Tonia is quoted in local media saying on Wednesday, 1st March: “It is the will of mother Carla and father Luca to be able to offer Alessandro’s school a defibrillator.

“Furthermore, at the funeral that will take place today in the parish church of Ghizzole at 3 pm, instead of flowers, donations will be collected for school activities in memory of Alessandro.”