A Scots mum has described the terrifying moment she found her daughter turning blue as she choked in her cot.
Ashleigh Morrison, 31, from Dumbarton, was home alone on May 7 with 10-month-old daughter Billie Moss when strange noises from the baby monitor woke her.
After a closer inspection, Ashleigh noticed Billie Moss appeared to be choking and had a blue tinge around her lips.
Describing the incident, she said: “I was woken by a strange movement coming from Billie’s baby monitor and when I went into my room, I knew it was something to do with her mouth, but I couldn’t figure out what.
"When I lifted her up, that’s when I realised she couldn’t breathe and it looked like she was choking - there was no noise, no coughing.”
Mum Ashleigh immediately threw her baby girl over her shoulder and began patting her back in a bid to clear the blockage.
After becoming hesitant as to whether she had done the right thing, Ashleigh quickly phoned 999 and was put through to call handler Andrew McNicoll.
Ashleigh added: “I was patting her back, while I ran back into my own room to dial 999. I was through to a call handler really, really quickly, and he was excellent.
"The first thing I said was ‘I don’t know if I’ve done the right thing by phoning you because she has literally just taken a breath and I’m really concerned’. He advised me it was fine, you have absolutely done the right thing, let me take this information.
“He told me not to do what I had initially done again after taking the relevant information and he advised me on what I should do, going forward should that happen again. I was really impressed with how quickly the ambulance got here. who re-assured her and dispatched an ambulance."
Andrew quickly despatched an ambulance before paramedic Carol Mackieand and Technician Tracy Dickson arrived and treated Billie for gastroenteritis.
IT trainer Ashleigh, admitted the situation was the 'scariest moment of her life' and thanked the crew for their swift response.
She said: "When the paramedics arrived, they were super reassuring, taking her observations, vitals and things like that, and making sure I was okay. They were also trying to reassure me to make me feel better; by this point I was really panicked.”
Call handler Andrew added: “I'd like to thank Ashleigh for taking the time to tell us Billie's story. It is so nice to hear there was a happy ending to what must have been a very worrying time for the family.
"There will be stories similar to Ashleigh and Billie's on each and every call handlers shift that we never hear the outcome of so receiving feedback like this is a fantastic reminder of the reasons that we all do the job that we do.”
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