Mum and dad save choking son

Kendall MacDonald knew something was wrong with her son, Brooklyn, when he went very quiet while eating his dinner.

On October 16, the 4-year-old, who is big brother to Timaru quadruplets, was eating in the lounge and Kendall and her husband, Josh, were talking in the kitchen less than 5 metres away.

‘‘Brooklyn has a habit of taking a long time eating his dinner, so I went over to check how he was going,’’ Kendall said. ‘‘As soon as I looked at him, I realised he was choking. He was just silent, he wasn’t making any noise and I know that no noise is worstcase scenario because there is absolutely no air getting in or out.

‘‘If they are coughing, that is a sign there is air going in and out but he was just silent and you could see he was struggling.’’

Brooklyn was choking on a small piece of sausage. Kendall, who had done several first aid courses, knew what to do.

Despite having a painful slipped disc in her back, she ran over to Brooklyn and started to hit him on the back.

‘‘He was purple and he was getting more purple as we were hitting his back,’’ she said. ‘‘I just tried to get him out of his seat but as much as I tried, I couldn’t do a lot because of my back, so I’m so thankful and lucky Josh was there to take over.

‘‘I didn’t have the strength to be able to sit up and hit him on the back at the same time, and by this time he had turned purple so I was freaking out – I am one of those people I know is bad in those sorts of situations but Josh was a lot more level-headed.’’

Kendall said she froze when she tried to call an ambulance.

‘‘Josh was telling me to call an ambulance but I was still standing there freaking out, I had the phone in my hand but I just physically couldn’t ring the ambulance, I don’t know why.’’

It took about a minute of hitting Brooklyn on the back for the piece of sausage to dislodge.

‘‘I know a minute doesn’t seem like a long time but it took forever,’’ Kendall said.

‘‘We don’t know how long he It took about a minute of hitting Brooklyn MacDonald on the back before the piece of sausage he was choking on dislodged. Inset: Kendall MacDonald. had been [choking] before we started and that was the scary thing for me. I felt so bad, he was trying to come to me and when I picked him up, he was trying to stand up but he couldn’t.

‘‘So I have told him now if you ever get in trouble you need to bang on something.’’

Brooklyn was OK after his ordeal and wanted to finish his dinner.

‘‘Once he had had a wee cry and stuff and got it together, then he was fine, it was such a quick turnaround – I was not OK

Kendall MacDonald

whereas he was wanting to eat.’’

However, that night the terrible experience all came back.

‘‘He did say something like: Mum, I thought I was going to die . . . you do not want to hear that from your child.

‘‘He did want to sleep in bed with me, he was scared but he was fine afterwards.’’

Kendall said she had always worried one of her children might choke on food but thought her 1-year-old quadruplets would be more at risk.

She had always been very careful to cut foods into small ‘‘baby-sized’’ pieces and the sausage was smaller than a 10 cent piece and cut into quarters, she said. ‘‘All I can say is just don’t take your eyes off your children, no matter what age they are because I thought Brooklyn would have been fine.’’

‘‘He did say something like: Mum, I thought I was going to die . . . you do not want to hear that from your child.’’