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Winter’s Story
I had just given birth to our beautiful baby girl, Winter. She was only 13 days old when she suffered a severe airway obstruction. The doctors believed it was remnants from her lungs due to being born via caesarean section. My partner called an ambulance while I began using back slaps and tried to clear her airway. She couldn’t breathe, and I could see the panic on her face. As she continued to turn purple and blue, struggling to move any air, I feared the worst.
I brought her outdoors onto the front lawn so that the ambulance would see us immediately. I had to move on to rescue breathing because nothing was coming out of her airway. I knew it was mucus, as her mouth was filling with foam and saliva. If I couldn’t get it out, I needed to try to push it past her trachea and into her oesophagus in hopes that she could take in at least one breath.
Two, three, four times I tried to push air into her lungs without any success. Her eyes started to bulge with fear, and her face and body were now very blue. I yelled out to my partner that I needed suction. He ran into the kitchen to get our LifeVac Anti-Choking Device, but I decided we didn’t have the time to wait. I decided to reverse my rescue breaths and try to suck the obstruction out of her mouth and nose.
The universe was kind, and the suction worked. I managed to clear her airway enough for her to breathe, and she began to cry. The sound of her cry was music to my ears as I realized that we had almost lost her. I had to continue to give her back slaps from time to time and held her in a recovery position, clearing her airway every few minutes.
The ambulance finally arrived with a basic tech crew in tow. They didn’t have any paediatric equipment on board or any experience in paediatric or neonatal care. It had taken them 65 minutes to respond to our call. Winter had been blue for 40 full minutes.
We spent a week in the hospital where Winter needed frequent suctioning, struggled to eat, and had to be monitored at all times.
I thank the universe every single day that I am trained as a Critical Care Paramedic, a Resuscitation Practitioner, and a Paediatric Specialist. My partner and I have reflected many times that if it had been a family without such training, Winter wouldn’t be alive today.
It is because of this that I want to empower all families to care for their loved ones. We can only hope that no one ever has to experience the trauma that we have, and if they do, that they may be prepared to help their loved ones.
Lily’s Story
When Lily was about two years old, we had an accident that I’ll never forget. It was just a regular day at home—Jack, my husband, was downstairs with Lily while I was upstairs. He’d made himself a cup of coffee and left it on the kitchen counter, thinking it was well out of her reach. Then, out of nowhere, we heard the most heart-wrenching scream. That kind of scream you just know means something is terribly wrong.
I rushed downstairs, and to my absolute horror, I saw that Lily had pulled the mug of coffee onto herself. The hot liquid had spilled all over her, causing severe burns down her tiny chest. My heart was racing, and my mind just went blank. But thankfully, Jack reacted instantly. He had her in a cold shower before I could even process what was happening. We quickly wrapped her in cold, wet towels, trying to cool her burns as best as we could while racing to figure out the next steps. It was terrifying. In that moment, I couldn’t stop thinking about what kind of lasting damage this might cause—would she be scarred for life, physically or emotionally? It was such a painful thing to face.
Looking back now, I feel incredibly lucky. Lily made a full recovery, and there aren’t any lasting scars. I truly believe that Jack’s quick response made a huge difference in how well she healed. But at the time, all I could feel was panic. I froze. I just didn’t know what to do. I’m so grateful Jack was there and knew to act fast, but it also made me realize how unprepared I was.
As a parent, you always want to be able to help your child, especially in an emergency, but in that moment, I felt helpless. I didn’t have the first aid knowledge I needed. I kept thinking, What if I had known more? Would I have been able to stay calm and take charge? It was a really hard realization.
I’ve never had formal first aid training, and that day made me wish I had. When I was younger, my little brother had a pretty scary accident, and honestly, that experience stuck with me and made me afraid of handling emergencies. I always told myself that when I had children, I’d make sure I had all the skills I needed to protect them. But life gets busy, and I never got around to it. After what happened to Lily, though, I knew I had to change that.
Since then, I do feel like I’ve gained some confidence as a mom. I’ve been faced with other situations where I had to act fast, and I think each time you go through something like that, you learn a bit more. I’m always reading advice or listening to other parents about how to keep children safe, and I do feel better prepared now than I did back then. But I know I could still learn more. There’s always something new to learn, especially when it comes to keeping your kids safe.
I’ve thought a lot about taking a family first aid course since that day. I want to feel ready if something like that ever happens again. I think the most important thing I could learn from a course like that is how to stay calm. In an emergency, keeping a clear head is crucial. When you’re calm, you can think more clearly and take the right steps to help your child. And I’ve realized how important it is to reassure your child in those moments too. They look to you for safety, and if you’re panicking, they’ll panic too.
If I could share one piece of advice with other parents, it would be to get some first aid training. You can’t predict when an emergency will happen—no matter how careful we are, accidents can still occur. What’s most important is how you respond. And one thing I’ve learned is that you can’t blame yourself when things go wrong. You just have to react quickly and do the best you can to help your child. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about being prepared.
