‘Incredibly grateful’: Parents thank off-duty paramedic who helped save choking baby
Watch: report by ITV News Meridian's Kit Bradshaw
The parents of a 9-month-old baby have thanked an off-duty paramedic for helping save her life, when she began choking on a piece of fruit.
Charlotte and Robert King called an ambulance when their daughter Matilda got into difficulty at home in Kent last week.
The control room was able to alert their neighbour - Sam Littlechild - to the emergency via a smartphone app.
He was off duty at home in Maidstone, just a few hundred yards away, when he received the notification via the GoodSAM application.
It allows medically-trained professionals to mark themselves as available to respond to emergencies within their immediate vicinity.
“We were just incredibly lucky and incredibly fortunate that Sam was there,” said Matilda’s dad Robert.
“To know that he gave up his time to be able to be there to be one of the people to save her life… we’re incredibly grateful,” added mum Charlotte.
Paramedic Sam Littlechild demonstrates first aid for a choking baby:
Sam was able to assess Matilda’s condition and by listening to her chest identify where the melon was in her lung. He helped Charlotte keep Matilda in the best position to prevent her breathing getting worse until his on-duty colleagues arrived.
The piece of melon was eventually dislodged in the ambulance on the way to hospital, when Matilda’s condition began to deteriorate. She initially tried to eat it, to the amusement of those treating her.
"It could have been so much worse, if we'd put her in the wrong position," added Charlotte.
This family is grateful that help was close at hand that day – and are reassured that neighbours like Sam are so willing to assist, should their skills ever be needed again.
There's more first aid advice for choking babies on the St John Ambulance and the British Red Cross websites.