A FLINTSHIRE mum has urged others to train themselves on unblocking child airways after her quick-thinking saved her baby from choking to death.

Lindsey Hughes, from Ewloe, was on New Brighton beach on the Wirral when her daughter Phoebe started ‘convulsing’ after a piece of fruit blocked her airway.

But having recently watched a St John Ambulance video about how to unblock a child's airway, Mrs Hughes, 32, laid her eight-month-old baby face-down across her lap and gave her four back blows. This was enough for the blockage – a piece of dried mango – to fly out of her mouth – actions that proved to be life-saving.

Now, she has been nominated for the St John Ambulance Everyday Heroes awards to commend her life-saving actions.

Mrs Hughes explained: “We went to New Brighton while her dad was playing rugby so we could have a snack.

The Leader:

“I sat down in front of her while she was in her pram and gave her some mango fingers to suck on and I'd noticed she'd gone quiet.

“Her colour started to change and there was no noise coming from her. She then started to panic, thrusting herself in her pram so after seeing these signs I'd guessed she was choking."

But having watched the video on how to unblock child airway, Mrs Hughes thankfully knew what to do.

She continued: “I was always worried about my baby choking so from the time I was pregnant I watched the St John Ambulance video about how to unblock a child's airway.

“I took her out of her pram, put her over my knee, her head by my knee, with her legs near my body and hit her back twice. I checked to see if it had dislodged but she was still panicking.

“So I gave her a couple more hits on the back and turned her over and saw the mango on her jacket. And I could hear her breathing again and she almost let out a cry but not a real cry. And within seconds she was back to normal, normal colour, breathing normal again and even reaching out for more food.”

The Leader:

“I'd say it took a few seconds and signs to realise Phoebe was choking, I completely froze for a moment before recollecting what I’d watched on the St John Ambulance video."

Mrs Hughes is urging other parents to train themselves on how to act in such situations.

She said: “Even though I was so familiar with the St John Ambulance video, I was still panicking, but understanding the signs to look out for - colour changing, no noise, panicking - and acting quickly while following the steps in the video is so important.

"There was nobody around me at the time so it's a complete miracle that I'd watched the video and remembered the steps. They video is really easy to follow, so I really would urge everyone to watch it.”

Mrs Hughes was nominated for the Everyday Heroes award after she took a St John Ambulance first aid course at work and said how watching that video had helped her save Phoebe's life.

Nominations are now open for the awards, which recognise the nation’s life savers, health heroes and community stars. The awards celebrate people who have saved lives with first aid or volunteered in the community and will be hosted by the Reverend Richard Coles.

The awards ceremony will take place at Hilton London Bankside on Monday, October 7.