Mum shares terrifying toddler choking video to warn other parents
Jennifer Hull luckily managed to save her 1-year-old from choking - but would you know how to do the same?
It’s a situation we hope never to be in: having our child choke.
But that’s exactly what mum Jennifer Hull, from the US, faced when she found her 1-year-old daughter Hollis choking on a piece of vegetable crisp.
Hollis was playing with her 3-year-old sister when the crisp lodged in her throat and she ran coughing into the playroom, where her mum was trying to fix the TV.
Jennifer was fortunately able to spring into action - performing the Heimlich manoeuvre, which dislodged the blockage in seconds.
And the whole thing was caught on camera, too, thanks to Jennifer’s nanny cam...
Jennifer decided to share the footage as a stark safety warning for all parents.
“It was very scary,” Jennifer confessed to ABC News, telling the channel how she remained 'terrified' for hours after the incident.
“I immediately jumped into mommy mode when it happened.”
She also said it was the infant safety classes she’d taken as a new parent that gave her the knowledge she needed to handle the situation.
“We sat through every class that our hospital gave. It’s the least that you can do if you’re going to bring a baby into the world.
“I just wish I’d got to Hollis sooner.”
We’re so glad that little Hollis is doing OK now - but this story still serves as a much-needed reminder for all of us.
What to do if your child is choking
St John Ambulance released a very useful video last year, which demonstrates the correct technique for saving a choking baby – and we’d definitely recommend you give it a watch.
As we wrote at the time:
"The video’s advice is to place your baby face down along your thigh and strike his or her back. First-aid experts say this gives a baby more support than if you followed previous advice, which was to place your baby along your arm."
However, if your child is over the age of 1, there is different advice all together:
“Stand behind them, bend them forwards and give up to five back blows between the shoulder blades,” say the British Red Cross.
Finally, here at MFM we totally agree with Jennifer than infant safety classes are a must. You never know when the info you learn there might come in handy.
We also think it might be an idea to start taking a refresher course once per year … just in case.
Better safe than sorry, right?
Images/video: Jennifer Hull/ABC News
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