A toddler from the town of Ashmont in New South Wales, Australia, is recovering this week after she was found last Friday playing near the corpse of her mother, who investigators believe had been dead for up to five days, Australia's Associated Press reports.
2-year-old Lucy Keevers was rushed by ambulance to Wagga Base Hospital on Friday after a local minister discovered the severely dehydrated toddler on the kitchen floor next to the body of her mother, 36-year-old Elizabeth Keevers, according to the AAP.
Ambulance Service Inspector Eamonn Purcell told the Telegraph that the toddler was "within hours of death" and may have survived in part on chocolate Easter eggs left over from the holiday.
"She was quite lethargic and pale," Purcell told the paper. "She wasn't saying much, she wasn't displaying much emotion. It was not long after Easter so she probably had some chocolate eggs that she was eating."
Police are waiting for a post-mortem report to determine the cause of death of Elizabeth Keevers, who they say may have died of an epileptic seizure. Keevers was severely epileptic and was involved in the Purple Day organization, an international group dedicated to raising awareness about the disease, according to Australia's 9News.
"She was on medication and being seen by doctors but no one expected this. There were never any problems at the house," Kim Beaumont, a neighbor who also knew Keevers through church, told the Telegraph.