One mother is thanking a man who jumped into action during a flight to save her little one’s life after she started to choke on a mint.
Kirsty Reed, 37, was flying with her four-year-old, Summer.
Other passengers attempted to dislodge the candy from the girl’s throat but were not successful. That is, until Jordan stepped in.
Kirsty said she gave her daughter a mint that she had broken into quarters to help relieve the cabin pressure but while she was braiding Summer’s hair, the girl began to cough and Kirsty realized she was choking.
“I took my belt off and hers and started whacking her back, but it was still lodged in her throat and she was severely distressed,” Kirsty said.
A man in front then grabbed Summer and started hitting her on the back but the piece of candy remained lodged in her throat.
Kirsty added:
“Summer’s hands and legs were kicking about, but she made no noise. Her face was distressed, and she could not breathe. I screamed the plane down saying, ‘help me, help my daughter’. Then out of nowhere, Jordan – unknown to me at the time – shot up, took her off him and carried out the Heimlich maneuver. Within about three goes, she let out an almighty scream and out came the sweet. I’ve never been so relieved in all my life.”
Jordan Lowrie, 25, was on his way from a friend vacation and had been napping when all the ruckus woke him up.
“I heard screaming and panic. I woke up and thought the plane was going crash, the lad next to me was like ‘a little girl’s choking’. I could see a man hitting her back and chest, I jumped up, they were like ‘she’s not breathing,’ Jordan shared with Teeside Live.
“I pushed the bloke out the way and I literally did the Heimlich maneuver. I performed that maneuver and she sort of spat out a mint. The next thing you know I just sat down – I didn’t really grasp the situation.”
Jordan revealed that he had viewed a video a few days earlier in which a waiter had saved a man’s life using the Heimlich manoeuvre.
Kirsty is now hoping that others will learn basic first aid to help in situations similar to this.
“In those moments, I completely froze and didn’t know what to do to save her other than bang her back – which didn’t work,” she said.
“A simple view of a video saving someone’s life helped save my daughter’s life. These men helped saved my daughter’s life. My daughter got to greet her Daddy at the airport and give him the biggest hug ever.”
Kirsty then used social media to find Jordan where she called him a “hero” for thinking on his feet.
“He’s our absolute hero,” she said. “Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”