PHOTOS: MEGAN GRAHAM PHOTOGRAPHY • HAIR & MAKE-UP: KENDYL TUILAGIT
he dreadful sound of his
little brother choking is
something schoolboy
Tyler Veint can’t easily forget,
but thanks to his cool head, the
youngster has been hailed a
hero for saving the toddler’s life!
Nine months on, Invercargill
mum Lisa gets upset thinking
about the afternoon she came
close to losing little Charlie,
who was struggling to breathe
after a mint he was sucking
blocked his airway.
As the situation turned
increasingly grim, Lisa cried out
to her eldest son − just 10 years
old at the time − for help.
It’s how Tyler acted in the
minutes following that saved
Charlie, Lisa believes, and
warranted the bravery award
her eldest son was presented
with in front of his schoolmates
last November.
While much of the incident
is still shrouded in terror and
confusion, Lisa recalls pulling
up at home after picking up
Charlie from daycare.
The 37-year-old says she went
to check on Tyler who, sporting
a cast with a freshly-broken
thumb, was in his room.
“I went in to see if everything
was alright with my eldest son
and we heard this funny noise
behind me. Turning around, it
was Charlie standing there
making this strange noise.
“It took me a couple of
seconds to realise what washappening − he kept pointing
to his mouth − and I realised
he was choking,” recalls Lisa.
“Charlie was still conscious
but his lips started to go blue.”
Scooping up the two-year-
old, she gave instructions to
Tyler who jumped into action.
“I yelled, ’Call an ambulance,
your brother’s choking.’ He
ran down the end of the hall,
grabbed the phone, came
back, phoned them and then
he relayed what the lady was
telling me to do and what
was happening.
“I put Charlie across my knee,
I tried to pat it out, I tried to
push on his stomach to bring it
back up, I tried to put my finger
down his throat. And all this
time Tyler was on the phone
repeating the information
from one end to the other.
“At the time, I was the more
panicked one while he was
calm and reassuring, giving me
the feedback and relaying the
information. He did so well!”
says Lisa admiringly.
“I remember Charlie making
a weird sound, and grabbing
the phone and calling 111,”
explains Tyler, now 11. “I said,
‘My little brother’s choking!’”
Just months earlier, the Year
6 pupil had completed the ASB
St John in Schools Programme,
learning basic first-aid skills. The
relieved mum knows Tyler’s
actions proved the difference
between life and death.
“It scares me, oh my gosh.
I even get
anxious just
thinking aboutit. I honestly don’t know how I
could have been on the phone.
I had Charlie in my arms and I
was trying everything to bring
the lolly back up. The last thing
I was thinking about was
holding a phone to my ear.
“I’m so grateful for the
schools to have that kind of
training that he knew what to do
when I said, ‘Call an ambulance.’
There was no second-guessing.
No, ‘Are you sure, Mum?’ It was,
‘Okay’,” she tells.
As the ambulance approached
the house, Tyler went out to the
driveway and waved the officers
in. By this time, the lolly had
shifted in Charlie’s throat and
he was getting some much-
needed air into his lungs. The tot
was checked thoroughly but
didn’t need to go to hospital.
Remarkably, Charlie still
remembers the episode. Shares
Lisa, “Every now and then we’ll
say, ‘Do you remember when
the ambulance came?’ And he’ll
go, ‘Yes, choking.’
“I thought he was too youngto remember, but he does.“
St John Intensive Care
Paramedic and Shift
Supervisor Debbie Blatch,
who was on duty that day, is
full of praise for how Tyler
handled the frightening ordeal.
“He helped because
he stayed cool, calm and
collected, and was able to
relay what needed to be
done from the calltaker.
“It could have been a
disastrous situation really,
but because they [Tyler
and Lisa] were both so
calm, we had a happy
ending,” she says.
A few weeks after the
dramatic episode, Tyler
was honoured at a
school assembly with a
Super Saver Bravery Award,
complete with heroic golden
cape and certificate.
“I keep it in the back of my
wardrobe because we haven’t
found a good spot to put it
yet,” grins Tyler.
While Charlie is showing no
adverse signs, there are
now a few new rules
including keeping an
eagle eye on him at
mealtimes and a lolly ban.
Tells Lisa, “We now sit
down and eat, and there’s
no more of those lollies!
Depending on what it is,
I sit there and watch and
make him bite it first to
ensure it doesn’t get
lodged in his throat. I’m
really wary of anything
I give him now.“ #
Lynley WardTHEY’RE YOUR STORIES
weeklyPEOPLE
Lions not lollies for
Charlie! St John’s
Debbie (right) says
Tyler’s cool head
was a life-saver.