Newport firefighters help save choking 1-year-old

NEWPORT, KY (FOX19) -A 1-year-old, MaKenna Crim, is back to her “sassy little self” after she had to be rushed to hospital about a week ago because she was choking.

Crim's mother said when she heard her daughter choking on April 26, she tried the Heimlich Maneuver, but it wasn't working.

So her 16-year-old niece called 911, and that's when a group of Newport firefighters rushed to help.

"When we arrived, we found a child in very serious condition," Newport Fire/EMS Engineer Paramedic Michael Goodridge said. "She was blue, unresponsive and not breathing, or very little. It was determined immediately that we weren't going to be able to remove the object."

So they loaded Crim up, and she was transported to Cincinnati Children's Hospital.

On the way, Goodridge says her condition got worse, and they had to give her CPR until they got to the hospital.

"I would say like 95 percent of the calls we go on, we don't know what the ending is once we get them to the hospital," Goodridge said.

Crim's mother tells Fox19 her daughter had to have surgery to remove the object that was causing her to choke.

The toddler was on a breathing tube for a while.

On April 30, her mother says she started breathing on her own again.

She was discharged from the hospital Monday.

Friday, she visited the Newport firefighters who helped save her life.

"It's very special, you know," Goodridge said. "I have been doing this job 15 years, and I have had other calls that haven't turned out as well. It leaves a lasting impression on you when you have a positive outcome."

Crim's mother says she's not only thankful for all of the first responders that helped her daughter, but also all of the doctors and nurses at Children's Hospital who cared for her daughter while she was there.

She says there aren't enough words to explain how grateful she is.

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