Alex and Connie Choking Safety

Alex and Connie – Choking Safety

Alex and Connie were going out for the day with their Mum and Dad. They were going to the zoo and Mum was preparing a picnic for them to take with them.

“I can’t wait to see the chimpanzees,” Alex said excitedly. He had a toy monkey that wrapped its arms and legs around him that he kept on his bed and he was looking forward to seeing them in real life.

“I can’t wait to see the elephants,” Connie said. “They’re my favourite.”

“We can’t go until we’ve had something to eat.” Dad said. “We’ve a long journey ahead of us and I don’t want either of you to be hungry on the way.”

“We can always eat our picnic on the way,” Connie said.

“The picnic is for later,” Mum said. “We’ll have something small now and then we can go and enjoy ourselves without worrying about rumbling tummies.

Alex sighed and made a face. He really wanted to go. He had been looking forward to this day for so long and he was too excited to eat.

Mum had made pasta and had set out some fruit for them to nibble on.

Connie sat down and was spooning food in her mouth but Alex was jumping around with his toy monkey. He was pretending he was swinging from the trees just like Tarzan and shouting at the same time.

“Alex hurry up and sit down,” Mum said.

Everyone else was sitting at the table and Connie was nearly finished. She looked crossly at her brother and said “Alex we’re going to be late if you don’t hurry up.”

Alex came over to the table and started to stuff his mouth with food.

“Alex stop that. You’ll make yourself sick.” Daddy said. “There’s plenty of time so eat slowly.”

Alex continued to take huge spoonfuls of pasta and was making annoying smacking noises.

“Alex that is very rude,” Mum said.

“Alex behave,” said Dad as Alex yet again left his seat and continued to jump around making monkey noises.

Alex finished his pasta and noisily slammed the spoon in his bowl. He then reached in and took a piece of fruit from the table. “Come on everyone, let’s go now,” he shouted as he ran across the room eating.

All of a sudden the monkey dropped out of Alex’s hands as he started to make funny sounds. He started breathing very heavily and Connie was about to tell him to stop behaving like this when she noticed his face was all red.

“Daddy what’s wrong with Alex,” she asked.

Mum and Dad both ran to Alex who was holding his chest.

“He’s choking,” Mum shouted.

Connie jumped up from her chair and started to cry. She was really scared and Alex looked terrible. He couldn’t breathe and was starting to turn blue.

Mum began to pat him on the back but Alex was still gasping and pointing to his throat with tears coming out of his eyes.

Dad got behind Alex and lifted him and pressed between his tummy and his chest and suddenly a piece of food flew out of his mouth. Alex took great gulps of air and Dad hugged him tight.

“You’re ok now,” Dad said still holding Alex. “You got food stuck in your throat because you wouldn’t sit down and eat properly like we asked you to.”

Connie sat down at the table again and wiped away her tears. She pushed her plate away as she wasn’t hungry.

Alex sat down and held on to Mum’s hand. He was starting to breathe normally again and he wasn’t bright red anymore.

“I’m sorry Mum and Dad,” he said wiping his eyes. “I was just excited about going to the zoo and couldn’t stay still.”

“You should always take small mouthfuls of food, chew slowly and sit at the table when you are eating,” Mum said. “If you jump around food can fly into the back of your throat and that can be very dangerous. Thank goodness Dad knew what to do.”

“I will always sit still from now on,” Alex said. He rubbed his throat which was very sore and cuddled his monkey.

“Food isn’t the only thing that can get stuck in your throat though,” Dad said. “You should never put coins, or bottle lids or small toy parts in your mouth either as they could also make you choke and really hurt you.”

“I suppose we’ll not be able to go anywhere now,” Connie said looking at the picnic basket and the tickets for the zoo that Mum had left on the table.

Mum and Dad looked at each other and smiled. “It would be a shame not to take you to see all the animals in the zoo,” Mum said.

“I think Alex has learnt his lesson and knows what to do from now on,” Dad said.

They went to the zoo and visited all the animals. Connie saw the big elephants and watched as the zookeepers fed them food which they lifted with their big trunks. They saw camels and rhinos and a very tall giraffe and even visited a separate house with big glass tanks with rabbits in it.

Finally they came to the monkey enclosure and Alex watched in fascination as they all swung from tree to tree and chased each other around the pen. They ate bananas and other pieces of fruit but all stood still whilst they were chewing.

A little while later they all sat down at a picnic bench and Mum opened the basket. She had packed ham and cheese sandwiches, chopped up grapes, apples and crisps and bottles of juice for them to eat.

Alex was hungry because he hadn’t eaten very much that day but was a little bit scared.

“Remember what we said,” Mum said as she handed him a sandwich. “Sit still, take small bites of food and chew slowly and you’ll be just fine. I might even get you both ice cream afterwards if you’re very good and finish it all.”

Alex ate his sandwich and drank his juice and then he and Connie went to the zoo shop where Mum let them both pick out a new toy. Alex picked out a pencil and a new drawing book and Connie got a toy elephant and they both climbed into the car tired but happy.

Alex thought about his day as they travelled home. He had seen lots of amazing things and found out lots of interesting facts about all the animals in the zoo but the most important lesson he had learnt had been to take care when he was eating and never to put anything else in his mouth either as he could choke and he never wanted that to happen again.