Quebec 4-year-old eats a sealed KitKat after trick-or-treating. Then his heart starts racing: ‘The consequences could have been irreversible’

Rebeka Lefebvre of Drummondville, Quebec, posted a public warning on social media after her four-year-old stepson Mylan ate a KitKat he received while trick-or-treating on Halloween. She said the chocolate looked sealed and completely ordinary on the outside, yet it produced dizziness and a racing heartbeat shortly afterward, according to The Daily Mail. 

The boy was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, Lefebvre wrote. She said medical staff anticipated the possibility of cardiac arrest. She also shared a photo of his urine toxicology results, which showed 50 ng/mL of THC, the primary psychoactive compound in cannabis.

That 50 ng/mL figure marks the standard threshold used to detect cannabis in urine, according to the post. Lefebvre noted that cannabis effects differ from one person to another and that a four-year-old is more vulnerable because of smaller body mass. She wrote, “Whether it was intentional or not, the consequences could have been irreversible.” Mylan has since been released and is no longer in critical condition.

Lefebvre details the night and calls on nearby parents to examine every piece of candy

In the full statement attached to her post, Lefebvre described herself as a completely devastated mother and said she did not want any other parent to experience the same ordeal. She identified the candy as a small KitKat that contained THC and had appeared perfectly normal, wrapped and sealed like any ordinary treat.

Moments later, she wrote, the family had to seek hospital care for the child because of significant dizziness and tachycardia. Other families have faced similar emergencies, such as when a 4-year-old was left critically ill after a toxic slushy.

Her statement continued: “Today, I’m speaking from the heart of a completely devastated mother. I don’t wish for any parent to go through what we experienced yesterday. My 4-year-old grandson ate a small KitKat containing THC (cannabis), after spending Halloween.”

It continued: “A chocolate that seemed perfectly normal, wrapped and sealed like any other treat. A few moments later, our world turned upside down. My son had to be taken to the hospital, placed under medical supervision due to worrying symptoms, including significant dizziness and tachycardia. But there are words a mother should never have to hear when it comes to her child’s cardiac arrest.”

Lefebvre said she could not understand how a child’s life could be placed at risk this way. “Whether it was an intentional act or not, the consequences could have been irreversible,” she wrote. She stressed that Mylan was simply a four-year-old who wanted to enjoy Halloween like every other child. “Behind every candy, there’s a child. Behind every child, there’s a family that loves them and should never have to fear losing them because of a treat,” she added.

She directed a specific request to parents in Drummondville, Saint-Germain, and surrounding communities: check every piece of candy the children received, including items that remain wrapped and look untouched.

She said the post was meant to raise awareness and help prevent another family from facing the same situation, not to create panic. She closed by stating that a child is not a target and that no parent should have to question whether they will bring their child home alive after Halloween. 

Dr. Christopher Labos, a cardiologist at McGill University Health Centre, described the risks in the most severe cases when speaking with CTV News. “At the extreme, for a young child that gets a very, very high dose they can actually develop seizures, lapse into a coma, and sometimes even die,” he said. The matter has been referred to the Sûreté du Québec for investigation, CTV reported.