It was around midnight Aug. 4 when Shannon Hannigan heard a scream coming from her 14-month-old son's bedroom.

She rushed to his room down the hall and found her baby swollen and covered in hives. He could hardly breathe.

"I flicked on the light and saw that he was covered in red splotches and he was puffy," said Hannigan, who works in Welland County Hospital's emergency department as a ward clerk. "I knew he was having an allergic reaction."

She scooped the toddler into her arms and rushed him downstairs. She planned to give him some allergy medication.

As she carried Daunte down the stairs he started gasping for air and grabbing his throat.

The single mother of two grabbed her keys and headed to Port Colborne General's emergency department.

"I knew I had to get him to an emergency room quick," said Hannigan.

According to sleep disorder specialist Dr. Raymond Gottschalk, if a person lacks oxygen for nine minutes, they will die. While he is not familiar with Hannigan's case he said given the information the child "likely would have died."

"A child suffering an acute allergic reaction where their lungs are closing up is not going to survive a 15-minute car ride," said Dr. Gottschalk.

It took her four minutes to get to the emergency room.

As she raced into the ER with her limp son in her arms, a nurse immediately came to her aid. Within five minutes

Daunte had been given an epi-pen, IV and other medications. His breathing was returning to normal and the hives were clearing.

Duante's oxygen levels were in the low 70s when they arrived at PCGH; normal levels are between 98 and 99.

As the on-duty doctor and three nurses attended to her 14-month-old son, all Hannigan could think about was how her son wouldn't have made it if she waited any longer.

"I know we wouldn't have made it to Welland," she said. "In the 15 minutes it would have taken me to get to Welland, Daunte had already been treated. He was on his way to recovery."

Over the course of the next five years Port Colborne residents will be forced to wait longer for emergency care.

The Niagara Health System, which operates six hospitals in Niagara including Port Colborne, announced its hospital restructuring plan July 17. Included in the recommendations are the closure of emergency departments in Port Colborne and Fort Erie. Port Colborne also stands to lose its day surgery unit.

It's all part of balancing the books by 2013.

Through the course of the plan, 24-hour emergency care will be whittled down to 14-hour prompt care before being eliminated altogether.

Hannigan is not alone when she says she is afraid of what will happen when the NHS closes the door on Port Colborne's emergency room. Thousands of residents in Port Colborne and Wainfleet have signed a petition against the closure of the emergency unit.

"An emergency room is for emergencies," said Hannigan. "An emergency is something that has to be taken care of in a matter of minutes. Fifteen minutes to Welland will be too long for some people.

"I don't want it to be my son, or anyone else's son or parent, to be the one to not make it because we have no ER."

Daunte was born prematurely. Because he was born early his lungs were not fully developed. When the toddler catches a cold it can easily turn into pneumonia.

Aug. 4 was not the first time Hannigan rushed her son to the hospital, and it won't be the last time.

But when the NHS implements the changes included in the plan, Hannigan may have to go further than Welland to receive proper care for her son.

Along with the removal of emergency and surgical services at Port Colborne General and Fort Erie's Douglas Memorial is the consolidation of such services as obstetrics, pediatrics and mental health.

Pediatrics will operate out of the new St. Catharines hospital, a half-hour drive for Hannigan. If Daunte becomes seriously ill and needs to be treated by the pediatric ward it's a far journey to St. Catharines, especially with another child.

"They are moving everything farther and farther away from us," she said. "It's not right."