A night out for dinner in Espanola turned into a lifesaving moment for two Whitefish River First Nation men turning them into heroes.
In an exclusive interview with The Moose, Talon McGregor of Whitefish River First Nation described how a holiday dinner on Wednesday at the Cortina Restaurant turned into a miraculous evening when he and his brother, Mskwoka, stepped up to help a young child who was choking.
“My brother was heading back to college, and we had planned to go to a movie to celebrate his last night in town. But with the weather, we decided to just drive to Espanola and have dinner instead,” recalls Talon. “We noticed there was a bit of a commotion going on and then I realized there was a small child who was in distress choking on some food. Staff and the parents were panicked, and the paramedics were called, but I asked if I could help. I knew time was of the essence, especially with such a small child, he was so small.”
Talon is the community nurse in Birch Island, so his experience came to the forefront. He says all emotions aside, he knew he had to act quickly.
“The child, a boy, around three or so, had gone limp and unconscious. I knew time was very important, so I used the adapted Heimlich Maneuver where I placed the child over on one knee and applied compressions on his back. I did not stop. His going unconscious was frightening because that only gives you a small window to do what you can do to bring him back. Fortunately, the compressions worked, the food finally loosened, and the child began to cry and breathe on his own once again.”
Talon says his training allows him to put his emotions aside when he is in the middle of a crisis, but once the child started to recover, and the paramedics stepped in, he realized how traumatic it had been.
“It felt like I was doing the maneuver for such a long, long time, it may have only been seconds. But with all the commotion and no response from the little one, it was scary because it felt like minutes to me, especially when there was no immediate response from the little one. I just kept going and going, I knew I could not stop. I knew we only had a minute or two to help the little boy. It was quite a relief to hear him finally breathe and cry.”
Talon also commends his brother, Mskwoka, who helped keep the little boy’s two older brothers (around 7/8 years old ) calm through all the commotion hugging and holding them close while he worked on the child. The feeling of joy and relief was tremendous.
“There was such a sense of relief when he started to cry,” he chuckles. “The little guy didn’t know what all the commotion was all about, which is the way of little ones. But, the parents, were obviously very, very relieved, and happy that their little guy was okay.”
The paramedics arrived around the time the child started to breathe once again and the family made their way to the hospital where their youngest member was given a clean bill of health.
The Moose has since learned that the child Jameson, is the son of Brittany Ackworth, an employee at Cortina. She thanks the McGregor brothers for their valuable assistance.
