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A Cork man is being hailed as a hero after he saved the life of a three-year-old boy yesterday morning who was choking on a sweet jelly.
Paul Curtin was driving in the city center when he saw a mother in distress and quickly came to her aid.
The mother did not have a chance to get her name or even speak to him, but she wanted to thank the mysterious hero for saving her daughter’s life.
The girl’s father, Fred, contacted The Neil Prendeville Show on Cork’s Red FM to see if they could help locate the man.
Fortunately, they were able to contact him and Paul told Neil how the terrifying situation unfolded.
“I was driving down MacCurtain Street and I saw this lady outside her car and she was panicking.
“I saw that there were two children in the back of the car, so I went out and went over to them and asked if she was okay and if I could help her with something.”
“She said ‘the boy is drowning’ and was so scared that she couldn’t even open the car door.
“I opened the door, unbuckled the seat belt, pulled the girl out and put her on my knee, then slapped her hard between the shoulder blades.
“What was in her mouth was evicted, so I returned it to her mother and told her that I would take her to the hospital if it were her.”
“Then I went back to the car and left.”
Paul works for Enable Ireland and every three years he has to participate in a first aid course.
“You do these courses and you think ‘ah, I will never have to use any of this.’
“But yesterday it automatically came back to me and I did it.”
“His lips had turned blue and looking at her face I realized that he was losing oxygen.
“The poor boy was also panicking.”
When Neil pointed out that Paul’s intervention saved the boy’s life, he became very emotional.
“It makes me feel proud, I’m very emotional right now.
“I just did it and continued, thirty seconds of my life saved that child’s life.
“She just swallowed a big breath of air, so I knew it was fine, so I returned it to her mother.
“So I went anyway and was headed home, the next thing a car pulled up next to me and I didn’t notice.
“But then the car pulled up in front of me and the woman inside started waving, I thought ‘oh no, don’t say it’s someone else now!’
“So the woman came out and she was the same lady as before and she just thanked me and asked for my phone number.”
Paul says the only reason he saw the woman was because of how quiet the street was at the time.
He noted that if it had been a normal day before the coronavirus, it would have been a very busy time on that street.
Paul was rewarded for his heroic deeds with a large box of barbecue supplies and a coupon to dine with his family when things work again.
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