A baby girl who stopped breathing while travelling in a car with her parents was saved on a busy roadside by a quick-thinking energy worker who was passing on his way home.

Mike Emptage, 48, had been working at SP Energy Networks office in Caernarfon, North Wales when he spotted a young couple who appeared to be distressed beside their vehicle in a bus stop at the side of the A548.

Sensing something was wrong, he turned his car round to go back and help, discovering the father was holding a small baby while trying to call the emergency services. Spotting the child had stopped breathing, he put his first aid training to good use – and undoubtedly saved her life.

Father-of-five Mike explained: “I ran towards the couple and could hear the man shouting to the person on the phone that their baby was not breathing. I took her from her father and examined her face. She was pale and her lips were turning blue.

“I sensed she had an airway blockage so I turned her over in my hand, inclined her head down and gave some firm slaps to her back, between her shoulder blades, with the heel of my hand. I looked in her mouth and could see bits of food so tried the same manoeuvre again a few more times but there was no improvement.

“By this time, I could see the blockage in her airway and managed to hook my finger around the obstruction to clear it. After a few more hard back slaps and she vomited, drew breath and started to cry.”

Mike stayed with the family to make sure they were okay, with eight-month-old infant seeming none the worse for her dramatic ordeal, although she was later checked at hospital as a precaution.

He added: “I’ve got five kids so it’s just a natural instinct to stop and help. I’d like to think it’s what anyone would have done.”

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