The father of a toddler who was saved thanks to the quick reactions of employees at the Blagdon Arms in Cramlington, has publicly thanked the pub staff, commenting that he and his wife will be “forever in your debt”.
The little boy’s parents’ faced their worst fears as he began choking on some food during dinner with his family. What seemed like an innocuous situation quickly escalated as he struggled to breathe and his face began turning blue.
Within seconds, nearby customers and Mandy White, a member of the pub’s staff rushed to help the toddler and tried to clear his airways, whilst another bar team member, Karolina Wilson dialled 999. After an agonising several minutes Mandy managed to dislodge the piece of food from the boy’s throat; just moments before the ambulance arrived. While the paramedics checked the little boy over, Mandy and Karolina tended to the shocked parents who were understandably shaken and in need of reassurance.
Later, James Thompson, the father of the little boy, reached out to the Blagdon Arms via social media saying: “I can’t begin to say how grateful I am to all the staff at the Blagdon Arms and the customers who came to the aid of my little boy when he was choking. Your fast actions undoubtedly saved him, and your care afterwards was fantastic, thank you so much, we will forever be in your debt.”
He added a comment to say that the care his family had received from Blagdon’s employees afterwards was “brilliant” and that the toddler was “soon eating ice cream and shouting at the footy on the TV.”
Michael Lamb, General Manager of the Blagdon Arms Cramlington said: “Both Mandy and Karolina had great reactions under this stressful event. They are both so humble about the whole thing, but I am super proud of them. The women gave the boy and his parents such good care and service afterwards – it is just very typical and great example of the caring people we have in our local pub. They worked together to prevent what could have been a very different story.”
Mandy works part-time at the Blagdon Arms, whilst also holding a position at the local school in Cramlington village during the week. Karolina is employed at a local nursery during the week and mainly works at the pub at the weekend.
