Seven-year-old Swindon girl helps save baby sister from choking
9:00am Friday 22nd February 2013 in News By Emma Dunn
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One-year-old Imogen Smith’s life was saved by her seven-year-old sister Lucy Cole when she starting choking after swallowing a hair clip
AT JUST seven years old, Lucy Cole is being hailed as a heroine after helping to save her little sister’s life.
The Lawn Primary School pupil was in her room with her one-year-old sister, Imogen Smith, on Sunday morning when she realised the tot was choking on a hairclip.
She shouted for her mother, Louise Smith, who was brushing her teeth in the bathroom, and paramedics arrived on scene within minutes to save Imogen’s life.
Lucy said: “There was a hairclip on the floor but I didn’t see it because it was the same colour as the rug.
“I was playing with my Barbies and I saw her crawling out of the corner of my eye.
“I saw her chewing on something but before I could grab it she swallowed it.
“I thought she wouldn’t be able to get it out so I shouted as loud as I could ‘mummy, Imogen has swallowed something’.
“Mum came running out and she threw her toothbrush on the floor and Trevor, my stepdad, came running upstairs, too.
“Then the paramedics came. They came really quickly.
“I was scared but I was relieved when they got it out.”
The clip was so lodged in Imogen’s throat that it took paramedics about half an hour to get it out.
Louise, 39, of Lawn, said: “We didn’t know what it was until they got it out. It was such a relief when she was okay.
“When I heard Lucy shouting I just remember running in and Imogen was gagging and trying to be sick.
“We had her upside down and were patting her on the back trying to get it out. Trevor ran and got the phone to call the ambulance. It was all so quick.”
Trevor, Imogen’s father, 36, who is a presenter at Swindon 105.5, said: “It was very scary, but we are very proud of the way Lucy dealt with it and the way she responded so quickly.
“We want to thank the paramedics for their quick response, too.”
Lucy and Louise have previously appeared in the Adver because Lucy’s father, Paul Cole, was one of our Gift Of Life campaigners, which encouraged people to become organ donors.
Paul, who had a bone marrow transplant in 2008, died of leukaemia in 2009.
