AN EIGHTEEN-year-old potentially saved the life of a young boy who was choking on a grape.

Unknown to the child and his family, Durrington nursery worker Hollie Yates is now appealing to find them once more.

Helping the boy to breath again, after he had “turned blue and had no pulse”, he was taken to hospital, before Hollie could get any further contact details.

Talking to the Journal about her experience, Hollie, who works at Kindred Nursery, said said she doesn’t want praise for what happened, but would like to reach out to the family to find out how they all are.

Recounting the incident, she said she was leaving the Lifestyle Fitness Gym in Durrington mid-July, when she spotted a family panicking around a body on the floor.

Immediately she went over to see if she could help in any way.

“I’ve dealt with something like this before so I wanted to help,” she said, “the parents wanted to know what I could do.

“The boy was struggling to breath and collapsed, I felt so sorry for him.

“I performed the Heimlich manoeuvre which moved [the grape] a bit, I checked his mouth and got the grape out, but by then he was turning blue and had no pulse.

“I performed CPR which brought him back but then he had no pulse again.

“At this point I knew we really needed to call an ambulance - I’m not fully first aid trained and he needed a good check over.”

While waiting for the emergency services to arrive, Hollie said she proceeded to talk to the boy but feared he could not hear her.

She also spoke to the parents at length, “to distract them as much as [she] could”.

“I don’t know who they are, I didn’t think to get any details from them at the time,” she added.

“All I could think was I hope I can save him, I didn’t want to give bad news.

“I was praying and all I could think was I don’t want to lose him, he has such a long life ahead of him.”

Hollie added: “I don’t want praise, I just want to make sure the family are all okay.”

If you can help Hollie find the family of the young boy please email us at newsdesk@ salisburyjournal.co.uk

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