https://www.wired.com/story/my-kids-were-sick-with-croup/ > This story is part of a series on parenting—from surveilling our teens to helping our kids navigate fake news and misinformation. > Twice last year I thought my children were about to die. The first episode took place one night in February. My 2-year-old daughter had been a little fussy before bed, but she wasn’t sick. In the early hours of the morning, though, she jerked awake with an awful sound—a wretched, desperate, wheezing inhalation that seemed to leave her nearly breathless. She couldn’t talk or answer questions; she only stared at us in panic. Within minutes we’d pulled on heavy coats and boots over our pajamas and rushed outside into the freezing rain. There’s an emergency department a few blocks from our house in New York City. I carried her there, gasping in my arms.