Choking baby boy saved by 'heroic' hotel staff

Silvi George and Chawki Ayari said they were delighted to receive a letter of thanks from the family and a donation to the hotel's nominated charity

Two quick-thinking hotel bosses saved the life of a choking baby boy.

Chawki Ayari and Silvi George were busy at work at Shrigley Hall Hotel & Spa in Macclesfield, Cheshire, when they heard a commotion in the dining room and saw the eight-month-old unable to breathe.

The pair ran over to help and food and beverage manager Mr Ayari managed to dislodge a piece of strawberry from the youngster's throat.

They have now been commended by the hotel's chosen charity, the North West Air Ambulance Charity, to which the boy's grateful great-grandmother made a donation after the incident last month.

"I felt under pressure because it was a baby," 36-year-old Mr Ayari said.

He said he had been hugely relieved to hear the child start crying and breathing again after the incident, during which his own wife and young daughter were in the restaurant.

Mr George described Mr Ayari as a "hero", saying he had "coolly and calmly" cleared the infant's airways.

And he revealed it was not the first time the pair had saved diners from choking, adding they had also had to perform CPR on guests before.

The great-grandmother, who was staying at the hotel, said in the letter dated 25 August: "On behalf of my family I would like to sincerely thank all members of your team who offered assistance and support at an extremely distressing time."

Mr Ayari said the donation North West Air Ambulance "was really nice" and the letter was "much appreciated".

'So touching'

Chris Andrews, of the North West Air Ambulance Charity, said it was "very grateful" for the donation from the baby's family.

"It's so touching that they thought of the North West Air Ambulance Charity in what must have been a tough time.

"Silvi and Chawki have obviously done a fantastic job, staying calm in a pressurised situation, and ultimately saving the baby's life - not dissimilar to the lifesaving work of our crew, coincidentally."

He added: "We'd like to reiterate our thanks and gratitude to the family, Silvi, Chawki and all at Shrigley Hall for their continued support."

NHS advice

The NHS advice on choking incidents involving children under one is to try to remove the object if it is visible, but not to poke blindly or repeatedly with fingers, as this could make things worse by pushing the object further in and making it harder to remove.

If the child is coughing loudly, people are advised to encourage them to carry on coughing to bring up what they're choking on.

But if that is not effective, people should use use back blows or chest thrusts.