Quick thinking saves little girl from choking

BY KIRK STARRATT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

It was an emergency situation that required quick thinking and heroic action. One New Minas girl showed wisdom and maturity beyond her years when she saved the life of her little sister, who was choking on a cookie.

Ten-year-old Mahaila Greenwood-Welton said she was playing with her friend, 10-year-old Jenna Myles of Hantsport, and her little sister, three-year-old Mataea Welton on Friday, April 13 when her little sister, who had a cookie, began to chase Jenna.

Mahaila said her little sister suddenly stopped in the hallway and was coughing hard. Jenna said she was choking on a cookie.

“We ran down and we saw she was choking,” Mahaila said. “Her face was red.”

They told Mataea to spit out the cookie, but the little girl wasn’t able to do so. Perhaps thinking she would be in trouble for taking the cookie, the little girl, who was still choking, locked herself in her parents’ room.

Jimmied the lock

Thinking quickly, Mahaila found a quarter and was able to jimmy the lock. They swung the door open and saw that Mataea was still choking and her face was discoloured. Mahaila recalled a swimming lesson she had once where she learned how to help someone who was choking.

Mahaila held her little sister around the stomach and began pounding hard on her upper back. “She spit the cookie out,” Mahaila said. “She started hugging me because she was scared. She cried and cried.”

Mataea’s voice was a little raspy the next day, but other than that she survived the ordeal unscathed, aside from the fact that the family dog nabbed what was left of her cookie.

“I couldn’t breathe,” Mataea said.

Mahaila said she recalls also that Mataea had choked on a Cheerio when she was one and they had to hit her hard on the back to get her to cough it up.

Chris Welton, the girls’ dad, said he thinks that Mahaila is a hero and he credited Jenna with helping to keep Mataea calm. “She assessed the situation and acted quickly,” he said.

Tabatha Welton, the girls’ mom, said she agrees that her daughter showed poise and wisdom through her heroic actions. “It’s incredible that she thought that quickly.”