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A mother says her baby girl nearly died when the child began choking on a teething bead hanging from her pram.
Kahla Hilton, who lives in Wagga Wagga in the New South Wales Riverina, says her daughter is alive today thanks to the intervention of a stranger who saved her life, reports NewsCorp.
She has shared her horror story on Facebook, as a warning to other mums who might not understand the potential hazards teething beads pose.
“I wasn’t going to post about this, but as a Mother, Aunty and friend of many with kids, I felt I had an obligation,” Kahla wrote.
“I had an experience yesterday that I’m calling the scariest of my life.”
It all unfolded while Kahla was having lunch at a café with a friend – her daughter Lukah was in the pram next to them.
“I turned to look at her and noticed she had something in her mouth, and at first thought it was the end of her dummy chain, which she often chews on…until I remembered she didn’t have her dummy chain on.
“About a split second later I realised that it was a bead from her teething garland, which has been hanging across her pram for months for her to chew on.”
The mother-of-three leapt into action, trying to remove the object.
“I quickly put my finger in the side of her mouth and got the bead out, and then I saw that she had another bead in there, half way down her throat.
“I started to panic, she was choking, and I froze.”
Kahla realised she was unable to help her baby girl – even though she has done a First Aid course.
“As she went from pink, to red, to blue, I screamed at the top of my lungs for someone to help.
“The café owner called emergency services as I continued to scream like an absolute crazy person.
“My baby was going to die, that’s all I could think about.”
Thankfully, help did come just moments later.
“My loud screaming got the attention of people throughout the mall, including one man, who ran across the carpark, jumped through the open window, scooped Lukah up and had her in a downward position and giving her blows to the back within what seemed like half a second.
“This man, was ex military, and he saved my baby’s life. I owe him everything.”
Lukha was rushed to hospital where medical staff performed X-Rays, hoping to find where the bead had gone.
She is now on the mend, but Kahla is blaming herself for the near-death experience.
“I do want to slap myself silly for putting so much trust in a piece of string.
“Never again.
“Everything made with teething beads has been thrown out. And I highly recommend all parents consider doing the same.”
Bizarrely, Kahla says she’s received “backlash” online from small business owners after posting the warning.
“I can’t force people to stop buying these products, and that was not my intention,” she says.
“We were lucky. Lukah definitely had a guardian angel watching over her yesterday.
“I would hate to hear of this happening to anyone else, especially if the outcome is worse.
“Be safe. Get rid of them.”
Kahla says her daughter is back to her happy self, thanks to the quick-thinking action of the stranger who saved her life.
“I can’t stop thinking that if that man wasn’t there the outcome would’ve been a lot worse,” Kahla says.
“He really is a superhero.”
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