Off-duty officer saves toddler's life on side of north Island highway

Photo: NANAIMO RCMP

Sam and Amanda, with toddler Hanna and their other daughter, Quinn, were heading south from the north Island after arriving on a ferry from Prince Rupert when Hanna began choking.

The baby’s cry was the most beautiful sound Const. Denise Laforest had ever heard.

The off-duty RCMP officer was driving to Alert Bay with her two small children to meet her husband, Owen, on Aug. 30 when she saw a car quickly pull to the side of Highway 19, between Woss and Sayward. A man jumped out, holding a limp child. He appeared to be in a state of panic.

Laforest instinctively pulled a U-turn and drove back to where the man and child were.

“I told him I know first aid and that I can help,” said Laforest. “At that point, he basically threw the baby at me and said: ‘She’s choking and can’t breathe.’ “

Laforest’s first-aid training took over.

She told the 17-month-old’s father to call 911 while she conducted a quick assessment. Laforest checked for any obvious injuries or blockages and found none.

The baby’s pulse was very weak, so Laforest immediately started doing back blows to dislodge whatever the child was choking on. To her horror, the child did not respond. Laforest could not find a pulse. She realized the little girl could die.

Laforest immediately started doing CPR, going back and forth between mouth-to-mouth resuscitations and finger compressions on the baby’s chest. She kept this up for several minutes before she heard a small wheezing sound.

Laforest cleared a small amount of debris from the baby’s mouth and Hanna began to cry — the most beautiful sound in the world.

“You saved my baby’s life,” said the baby’s mother, crying and hugging Laforest.

The family drove the little girl to a first-aid clinic in Woss to have Hanna assessed, then drove to Campbell River, where she was admitted to hospital. Hanna was discharged later that night with a clean bill of health.

Laforest, whose husband had recently transferred from Nanaimo to Alert Bay, is on extended leave and had recently completed a refresher course in emergency first aid.

She learned that Hanna’s family had recently arrived on Vancouver Island after taking the Prince Rupert ferry. They were driving down from the north Island to visit family.

They told Laforest the first thing they will do when they get home is enrol in an emergency first-aid course.

If it wasn’t for that, my training may not have kicked in and we could have been looking at a very different outcome, she said.