PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. (WSVN) — A father was in panic mode after his 17-month-old daughter started choking. He then rushed over to a neighbor’s front door, knowing the neighbor was a firefighter.
Al attempted first aid by turning his daughter, Jasmine, upside down and hitting her on the back.
“She just collapsed, she’s just powerless. Once I saw that I grabbed her and I just went out,” said Al.
The moments Al arrived at Greg Tabeek’s house was captured on the off-duty firefighter’s Ring doorbell camera.
“I was powerless to be honest with you,” recalled Al. “As soon as I saw her let herself go, at that time, you cannot think straight.”
After finding out Al did not call 911, Tabeek calmly took charge of the situation as he performed maneuvers to dislodge the object causing the choking. After several attempts, the object was successfully removed and Jasmine was breathing again.
“It’s just training and trusting your skills and stay calm and let my training go to work and try to handle it,” said Tabeek.
Jasmine is too young to know what happened, but one day her father will share the story of the firefighter who saved her life.
“The bond now that Al and I have seeing each other everyday is way different than just that neighborhood hi,” said Tabeek.
Fire stations offer free CPR classes for infants and toddlers but if anyone does happen to be in a similar situation, they are urged to call 911.
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