Leah saved her eight-month-old baby son from choking after learning baby first aid skills with St John Ambulance.

We were sitting on the floor at home, all of us playing a game and snacking on fruit. Cayden was just eight months old, sitting on his dad's lap and eating some watermelon.

Charlie, his dad, and I thought Cayden had finished eating but after about five minutes we heard him make an awful noise.

When I looked down his eyes were bulging, and his face was bright red. I’ll never forget how he looked.

Thankfully, just three weeks earlier, I’d taken a free St John Ambulance community first aid course. I had basic first aid training through my job at a GP practice but it needed topping up and I had no idea how to do CPR on babies.

As soon as I looked at Cayden, I knew he was choking and my training kicked in. I grabbed him off Charlie’s lap and put him across my legs with his head down like we’d been taught. Then I gave him five back blows. On the fifth one the piece of watermelon flew out of his mouth and across the room.

Cayden started breathing normally and his colour went back to normal. He seemed okay but because he had choked we knew we should just make sure. We called 111 who told us to take him to the hospital for a check-up.

Thankfully everything was okay, but Charlie and I were really shaken. We contacted St John Ambulance to see if we could take another course as Charlie wasn’t sure if he would be confident enough to perform first aid if he needed to. The course leader, Ray, and his wife were amazing. They gave us a one-to-one session and talked through everything that had happened. Now Charlie feels so much more confident.

I’m so grateful that St John Ambulance provide these free first aid courses, especially to people on maternity leave who might not otherwise be able to afford it. It’s the best thing we ever decided to do because without it my little boy would have died. That training saved my baby’s life.