This is Oliver. He’s just turned 2 years old. He’s a happy toddler who enjoys dinosaurs, climbing, cars and exploring anything and everything!
Last week his amazing mum, Anna, saved his life when he choked on a coin. She has told us her story to help raise awareness of the importance of knowing the basic first aid skills that can mean the difference between life and death and did for them.
What happened?
Oliver was playing with some 2p coins, as he likes to post them and pretend he’s playing with a slot machine. Anna always plays the game with him and never leaves him unsupervised with the coins.
The finished their game and put the coins away but unbeknownst to Anna, Oliver still had one in his hand. She took him to change his nappy and when she lay him down she realised he had put it in his mouth.
He started gagging and mildly choking, the he started to be sick and he was crying as the coin had become stuck.
Then he went silent.
Thankfully, Anna had done a first aid course at work about 3 years previous to the incident so her knowledge kicked in and she started delivering back blows and encouraged Oliver to cough.
Anna’s quick thinking meant she used her Alexa device to call for an ambulance so she didn’t have to interrupt the back blows. The ambulance arrived within 7 minutes.
Thankfully, the moment she opened the door to the paramedics was the moment the coin came out.
We asked Anna what was going through her mind at this time and she said all she could think was “I’ve got to save him, I’ve got to stay calm so I don’t panic him further and I’ve got to get this out.”
And she did.
What happened next?
The paramedics took Oliver to hospital to check him over and thankfully there wasn’t any lasting damage.
Anna said this was the worst 7 minutes of her life and her message to you is this:
“Everybody who looks after children needs to know what to do. You never think it’s going to happen to you but it can and it does. Taking a baby first aid class could just be the best investment of your life.”
We couldn’t have put it better ourselves.
First aid is the action you take BEFORE medical help arrives. And it can mean the difference between life and death.
In our friendly and relaxed classes we’ll teach you what to do if your baby or child chokes, you’ll practise the techniques on our manikins until you are confident you know what to do. For just £25 and 2 hours of your time you’ll learn vital first aid skills for babies and children.
Head to the home page and click on ‘find a trainer’ to find your local Daisy trainer and book a refresher today.