An oil industry engineer and his wife saved the life of a toddler after the youngster choked on a lollipop during a family day out.
Leanne Christie watched in horror as two-year-old Zahra’s skin went pale and her lips turned blue after the sweet got stuck in her windpipe.
And the 30-year-old said the little girl would not have survived had it not been for the actions of quick-thinking Good Samaritans Jim and Fiona Bramald.
Aberdeen-based Mr Bramald and his wife stopped to help as Miss Christie and her partner Richard Stephen tried to flag-down passing motorists after Zahra swallowed the top of her lolly.
The family were on their way from their home in Buckie to Keith when the drama happened.
Miss Christie said: “We were just driving along and Zahra was in the back with her lollipop, but the next thing we knew she was making a really awful choking noise.
“We realised that the lollipop had come off its stick, and she’d swallowed it.”
The family pulled over to the roadside, and Zahra’s parents made frantic efforts to dislodge the sweet from her windpipe.
“We slapped her back a few times, hoping that would bring it up, but it wasn’t working”, said Miss Christie.
The couple tried desperately to flag down passing motorists, and dialled 999 for an ambulance.
Miss Christie said: “Some people just drove past, but thankfully Mr and Mrs Bramald did stop.
“Mr Bramald turned Zahra upside down, while Mrs Bramald slapped her on the back – but that still didn’t dislodge it.
“By that time Zahra’s skin was pure white and her lips had turned blue, she was very unresponsive.
“At that point, I did actually think we had lost her and when Mr Bramald shouted ‘come on little girl, stay with me’ I completely lost all composure.”
Just as Miss Christie feared the worst, the trained first aiders’ efforts paid off and Zahra coughed out the sweet.
Miss Christie said: “It was like something out of a horror film.
“To be honest, I don’t think an ambulance would have been able to get there on time.
“It would have been a completely different story if the Bramalds had not stopped, I’ve never been so glad to hear Zahra cry as when she did then.”
Miss Christie has since made contact with Mr and Mrs Bramald, who stay at Udny Green near Ellon, to thank them for their.
Miss Christie, whose two other daughter Emily and Layla are aged 10 and one, also urged other parents to make sure they knew what to do in a similar situation.
She said: “No one ever expects something like this to happen to them, and although I knew the basics of the Heimlich manoeuvre I wasn’t aware of how forcefully you needed to hit a toddler’s back to dislodge something from their throat.
“I did worry if there would be any lasting impact on Zahra, but she was soon back to having tantrums and being a typical two-year-old.”