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 Janet Kochon keeps her children Desmond, left, Dakota and Shavannah close. Shavannah was saved from choking by a stranger that Janet would like to meet. - Chris Puglia/NNSL photo |
It started as an ordinary shopping trip for Janet Kochon and her children.
Around 1 p.m., she and her three children had left Wal-Mart and were heading toward Extra Foods.
Kochon recalls that her daughter, Shavannah, 7, and oldest son, Desmond, 9, were trailing while she and her youngest son, Dakota, 4, took up the lead.
"My oldest son ran over and told me 'Something's wrong with Shavannah.' I said, 'What?' And, he said, 'I don't know, I think she's choking,' " Kochon remembers.
From that point on she said things get a little fuzzy.
She remembers being afraid and rushing to her daughter's side.
"I was frantic. I picked her up and started hitting her back," she said.
Kochon said she has performed the Heimlich manoeuvre in the past when one of her sons began choking.
This time, however, fear took over.
"I was so scared. I was panicking," she said.
Luckily, a group of snowmobilers were passing by and saw Kochon desperately trying to save her daughter from suffocating.
"There were four or five (snowmobilers) and they came over and said, 'What's wrong?' I said, 'I think she's choking'," Kochon remembered.
One of the snowmobilers quickly took over, snatching Shavannah away from her fearful mother. Performing the Heimlich, he was able to dislodge the obstruction in her airway.
"She coughed and a gumball came out of her mouth and there was a little bit of blood on it," she said.
The snowmobilers informed Kochon that her daughter would be fine.
But, in the midst of the ordeal, she said, she wasn't able to get the rescuers' names.
"It all happened so fast. He had a helmet on so I didn't know what he looked like. I was so in shock, all I said was 'Thank you' and I didn't even ask his name."
Now the Kochons would like to get the chance to more formally thank the people who saved their daughter's life.
"I'd just like to say thank you. We made some cookies -- we'd like to give them some Christmas cookies," she said.
Shavannah said she was really scared by the incident and doubts she will ever have a gumball again.
