HuffPost UK is the media partner for the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes awards on 7 October, celebrating the nation’s life savers, health heroes and community stars. In this interview series we speak to people whose lives were saved, alongside those who saved them.
It was an ordinary Tuesday night for the Bedfords: the family had sat down together to eat a roast dinner with chicken, vegetables and potatoes. But when mum-of-two, Laura, and her husband left the room, things went downhill.
A piece of potato had become firmly lodged in their youngest son’s throat. “I thought I could eat it in one go, because it was quite small,” Alexander, who was seven at the time, tells HuffPost UK. “And I was like yummy, but then I started coughing and all sorts. I was a bit scared.”
Alexander began to choke and turned blue. His big sister, Louise, immediately got up and gave him strong back slaps – something she’d learned that week at school. The first and second attempts were futile, but on the third, the piece of potato dislodged itself from Alexander’s throat.
The youngster had choked on a chip before during a previous holiday – but this time was “far more terrifying” for the family – and they credit Louise, who was just 15 at the time, with saving his life.
On average, a child dies every month in the UK from choking, says RoSPA, and hundreds more require hospital treatment. Many deaths could be prevented if first aid was given before emergency services arrive, they say.
Laura, 37, says the family were having an extension done on the day her son choked, last October, so the kitchen table had migrated into the lounge of their home in Cheshire. “Their dad had gone out of the room, I’d gone to the kitchen to get dessert, and then we heard a load of commotion going on,” she recalls.
When she went back in the room, she saw Alexander looking “a funny colour” with tears in his eyes. “It was a bit surreal really,” she says. “We’d literally just left [the room] and Louise was in there finishing her dinner with him. If none of us had been in there, it would’ve been a different story.”
Recalling the moment she saved her brother, Louise, now 16, says: “It happened really quickly. Afterwards I thought about how scared I was, but at the time I just knew what I had to do.
“I immediately got up and reached over and started doing the back slaps. And then it [the piece of potato] finally popped out. I felt very relieved that I was there.”
After the ordeal, her little brother thanked her for saving his life with a big hug. Laura says it’s “amazing” how quickly her daughter reacted to the event: “We’re just really proud and so grateful that she was there.”
How to help an adult or child who is choking:
:: Encourage them to cough out whatever is stuck and remove any obvious obstruction from their mouth.
:: Slap it out. If coughing fails to work, you need to give five sharp back blows. To do this, help them to lean forwards, supporting their upper body with one hand. With the heel of your other hand give them five sharp back blows between their shoulder blades.
:: Check if the blockage has cleared.
:: If not, give up to five abdominal thrusts. To do this, stand behind them and put your arms around their waist. Place one hand in a clenched fist between their belly button and the bottom of their chest. With your other hand, grasp your fist and pull sharply inwards and upwards up to five times. Check their mouth again, each time.
Source: St John Ambulance.
