A devastated mum has sounded a warning other parents not to leave cables around their homes after her two-year-old girl accidentally hanged herself while playing with a fan cord.
Journy Harr and her husband Randell, 37, tucked their four young children into bed for the night in September 2020.
But their lives were then ripped apart when they heard their oldest son scream from the top of the stairs.
The mum, 30, heard Randell run back upstairs to check on the tots, who were all in the same bedroom while the boys' room was being redecorated - including little Lilly.
The stay-at-home mum presumed her boisterous youngsters were just getting up to mischief.
But she was horrified when Randell yelled out in terror to call 911.
Journy claims she then raced up the stairs to find the tiny blonde-haired Lilly freed from the cord as their son explained she had wrapped it around her neck multiple times while playing.
The young girl had then tripped and strangled herself, according to the boy.
The heartbroken family are still struggling to come to terms with their devastating loss.
The devastated mum has finally found the strength to speak out and warn other parents about securing leads and cords around their homes.
Journy, from Missouri, US, said: "Our five-year-old son said she got the cord and made a wrapping motion around her neck, then took a step, fell and hung herself.
"He said that it happened, he called for help and daddy came. It was so fast - I can't stress that enough.
"It had been bedtime, so the kids go to bed and you check in every 10 to 20 minutes to put them back in bed, turn off the light and then do the whole thing again.
"Lilly's brothers were sharing a room with her because we were painting their room.
"They were still very young themselves - my oldest was five years old at the time.
"My husband [Randell] had just gone and checked on them then we heard our oldest son yelling down the stairs.
"It was so fast, within 10 minutes. He had just been upstairs.
"I was thinking one of the kids was just doing something, then I heard him open the door and shout 'oh my god, why, why?' Then he was screaming to call 911.
"I never saw it. By the time I raced upstairs he had already gotten her down but the fan was in her window.
"She wasn't breathing at this point. She wasn't responsive at all."
Journy had already been concerned when they decided to fit the window fan in Lilly's room, but admits she was worried about it being pushed out and the kids falling through the window.
She had never imagined it could be possible for her toddler to become entangled in the cord, which hung down to plug into an outlet under the window.
Journy said: "Randell was working on her doing CPR and I was on the phone with 911, freaking out.
"They had to yell at me a couple of times because I wasn't coherent.
"I just remember him working on her and yelling at her to breathe, saying 'come back baby, come back'.
"He raced out to meet anybody that was coming so they could be working on her properly.
"The ambulance actually ended up getting lost because we live in the middle of nowhere.
"I remember him running through the house holding her and she was just flopping.
"I really thought she was going to make it because I knew how small of a window it had been.
"I'd watched Randell go up minutes before so I knew it couldn't be long.
"I'd heard stories of people being oxygen-deprived for significantly longer than that and making it. I'm an optimist anyway and I was convinced she was going to make it.
"Finally, our neighbour ended up being the first responder and he thought she was going to make it too.
"He worked on her from the time he showed up until they were finally like 'let's just go to the hospital and do CPR at the back of the car'."
Journy then found a friend to care for her three other children before she raced to the hospital to be with her husband and their daughter - still hoping she would pull through.
But on the way there, she received a devastating call that their daughter had passed away.
The mum said: "Randy called me when I was about halfway there and I could tell by his voice that something was different. He sounded calm.
"I asked him what was happening and he told me 'she didn't make it, baby'.
"This very strange peace came over me. I am a spiritual person and I call that divine intervention.
"It was night and the roads were windy and if I was freaking out while driving, it wouldn't have been good. I was being protected there.
"I just remained very calm and very peaceful. I felt in my heart that it was going to be okay somehow.
"It didn't hit until after I got to the hospital and I saw her. She was all wrapped up in the blanket and she had a tube in her mouth.
"Randy was holding her and she was so cold. It was when I got her in my arms that it hit me because I was holding her and she wasn't there.
"They worked on her some more at the hospital for a while and they stopped and said there was nothing they could do.
"Randy said no and shoved through. He started working on her again and they helped for a little while longer, but she was gone, she wasn't coming back.
"I kept telling myself when I was holding her that she was going to open her eyes and it'd be some sort of medical miracle.
"She was pronounced dead that night."
