Mum emphasises the importance of parents knowing first aid after her daughter nearly chokes to death

Laura Robinson took to Facebook to warn other parents after she and her partner 'went through every parents worst nightmare' and found out first hand how important it is to be able to perform first aid in an emergency.

Laura took to Facebook to share her story: 'On Tuesday 12th March Kevin Langley and I went through every parents worst nightmare when we received a call from my toddler daughter's nursery to say she was in an ambulance on route to A&E due to choking on her lunch. On arrival I was taken to resus where my baby was laid out mottled purple & cold to touch.'

Laura was told that the team were prepping her daughter, two-year-old Eden, for surgery and were just moments away from conducting a tracheotomy.

Thankfully they were able to avoid this massive procedure as the staff manoeuvred the sausage from the two-year-olds airway. Despite this Eden remained unresponsive, as she had been without oxygen for around 20 minutes.

Laura explained: 'Blood reports indicated she had gone into cardiac arrest probably minutes after choking. Thank god slowly , over a couple of hours she became responsive and started recovering . She was stable and able to be transferred to the High Dependency Unit in Hull.

'There was still the possibility of brain damage and a trip to theatre to check for any products remaining in her lungs. Thankfully none of this was necessary as by some miracle she has made a full and complete recovery!'

As any parent would be, Laura and her partner are so thankful that this time a tragedy was avoided. Every parent should be clued up when it comes to basic first aid for babies and children. Laura even suggests that some courses can be taken up for free but even if you have to pay a small fee, it could save your child's life.

Laura thanked the staff at her daughter's nursery where every employee is trained in paediatric first aid. Their quick actions played a vital role in the fact that Eden survived.

When a child's airway is blocked you have between three and four minutes before brain damage could occur.

Laura finished her post saying: 'Ultimately we want to highlight the dangers of choking and the importance of knowing paediatric first aid /CPR. Choking is the 3rd most common cause of death in the under 5s in the UK.'

She continued: 'Hopefully you will never be in this position but you might just help to save a life. We are beyond grateful and words can't really express this. Eden is back to her normal fun loving, chatterbox, cheeky self, running rings round us and has no recollection of her ordeal.'

The British Red Cross offer a one day first aid training course for parents with children aged from birth to puberty. The course is available across the UK and covers a range of emergency situations. Prices start from £45. For more information visit redcrossfirstaidtraining.co.uk