A mum has hailed a borough council joiner as a hero after he helped to save her daughter.
Sian Berridge says she will be eternally grateful to Paul Flanagan, who came to the aid of three-year old Gracie-Rae.
Sian found Gracie-Rae choking on a lollipop at their home in Sileby last month and ran outside in search of help, where she found Paul, widely known by his nickname “Bob”, who had been working on a nearby property.
Bob leapt into action and eventually managed to dislodge the lolly from the youngster’s throat. Gracie-Rae was taken to hospital to be checked over before being given the all-clear. Mother-of-three Sian firmly believes that Bob’s actions saved her daughter’s life.
“My two older kids were upstairs and I went into the kitchen to get a charger,” Sian said. “When I came out I noticed Gracie in the hallway, gasping and going blue, and then I saw the stick with no lolly on it. The lolly must have come off in her mouth."
“I just freaked out. You know what to do but when it actually happens, you just panic. So I scooped her up and took her outside, shouting ‘help me, help me, help me’.
“Bob happened to be the first person I saw and he just took her straight away, turned her on to her front and starting patting her back. The lolly didn’t come up but he definitely dislodged it to the point that it went down. Then he just held her for the longest time, making sure she was ok. He was brilliant."
“My neighbour then called an ambulance and we had to go to the hospital to get her checked out but thankfully everything was alright. Gracie is on the spectrum for autism and says very few words but she actually said, ‘help me’, which brought tears to my eyes as I’ve never heard her say that before."
“Afterwards, I was very tearful, couldn’t stop crying, relieved but also in shock. I can’t thank Bob enough – my dad still wants to take him for a pint! He’s a hero. He saved my little girl’s life and I will forever be thankful to him.”
Bob worked for the council via an agency for five years but only recently became a full-time employee in the voids repairs team.
He said: “It was only my second week on the job and I was just packing up at the end of the day, when I saw Sian and Gracie-Rae. It all just happened so quickly that I didn’t really have time to think about it. I just did what I could."
“But after I got home and everything had quietened down, it suddenly hit me and I did get a bit emotional. I am just glad everything worked out and Gracie-Rae was ok.”
Bob went back to see Gracie-Rae the following day to see how she was. A grateful Sian, meanwhile, later contacted the Council as she wanted to make sure his efforts were recognised.
“I’m a bit humbled, to be honest, and quite proud, if that’s the right word,” added Bob.
Rob Mitchell, chief executive of Charnwood Borough Council, said:
“On behalf of Charnwood Borough Council, I’d like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Bob for his quick-thinking and action. We are really pleased Gracie-Rae is doing ok and that Bob was able to help.We are incredibly proud of him and grateful for his brave response in such a critical moment.”
For advice on how to stop a child from choking, visit here.