A MUM has described her terror after discovering her two-year-old son choking on a coin – before saving him with seconds to spare.
Ashley Bufton, 35, from Ashford, Kent, was cleaning when she realised that Bailey, who has autism, was unable to breathe.
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She said: “I heard him take a really sharp intake of breath. As I turned around, he was clearly not able to breathe.
“He was panicking, his eyes were watering and I completely freaked out.
“It was absolutely terrifying. My heart stopped. I didn’t even know what was in his mouth.”
The desperate mum’s panic continued as the traditional method of back blows failed to work.
She then phoned emergency services – speaking to an operator on loudspeaker as she continued trying to dislodge the coin from the toddler’s airway.
Eventually, Ashley was able to locate an airway clearance device, which successfully sucked the coin out on the second attempt.
Ashley added: “Bailey vomited and then took a massive breath of air in.
“I just remember feeling relief and I picked the penny up and I was still on the phone to the operator.
“It took another 13 minutes for paramedics to arrive, by which time, had I not had the LifeVac, serious damage could have been done.
“This is because no amount of me hitting him on his back or doing any of the manoeuvres that would normally have worked was working because the penny had managed to lodge itself sideways.”
Thanks to Ashley’s quick-thinking, Bailey fully recovered within 30 minutes.
LifeVac – the device Ashley used – gained attention after it was promoted by the parents of Oliver Steeper, who died after choking at a nursery in Ashford three years ago.
They have campaigned to get the equipment in all Kent pre-schools.
Ashley praised the parents’ work, saying: “I’m very grateful that Oliver’s family have taken the initiative to tell his story – tell their story to save other children. And that is exactly what they’ve done in my case.
“I believe [the device] stopped my son from dying or having severe brain damage.
“I’m really grateful that it exists because I don’t think my son would be here if it didn’t.
“Had I not had the device I would have had to wait until those paramedics turned up and then for them to get him to the hospital to remove it. So in a time-sensitive situation, it saved his life.”
She added that she had now showed her other two children how to use it in case of a similar emergency.
Oliver Steeper choked on food at the Jelly Beans Day Nursery in Ashford on September 23, 2021.
The nine-month-old died six days later at the Evelina Children’s Hospital in London.
The jury at an eight-day inquest last May returned a conclusion of misadventure.
In August last year, his parents Lewis and Zoe Steeper began setting up the Oliver Steeper Foundation.
This was to raise funds and campaign for all pre-schools in Kent to have the anti-choking devices manufactured by the Australian-registered company LifeVac.
Last December they used the equipment to save their 11-month-old son Jake when he choked on Calpol.
What should you do if your child is choking?
Here are the steps to follow if your child is choking, according to the Red Cross.
- Give up to five back blows: hit them firmly on their back between the shoulder blades. If back blows do not dislodge the object, move on to step 2. Back blows create a strong vibration and pressure in the airway, which is often enough to dislodge the blockage. Dislodging the blockage will allow them to breathe again.
- Give up to five abdominal thrusts: hold the child around the waist and pull inwards and upwards above their belly button. Abdominal thrusts squeeze the air out of the lungs and may dislodge the blockage.
- Call 999 if the blockage does not dislodge. Meanwhile, continue with cycles of back blows and abdominal thrusts until the blockage dislodges, help arrives or the child becomes unresponsive. If you can’t call 999, get someone else to do it.
