A family's heartache is a sad reminder of the need to know CPR and the Heimlich.
The parents of Ayyan Umar are devastated after their toddler choked to death on two grapes.
They were grocery shopping last week and Ayyan, 2, was in the shopping cart as his mother was looking at some cheese. She says she had no idea he was trying to eat the grapes in their cart.
She turned around when she heard him making choking sounds.
“I even threw the cheese down and I started banging on him,” says Ayyan’s mom Emma Carver describing how she struck her son on his back, hoping to dislodge whatever was in his throat. “But it wasn't getting it out, so it had to be lodged.”
Emma says one shopper called 911, another tried CPR and while ems came in 5 to 7 minutes and they were able to get one grape out, she says, her son was already gone.
A second grape was removed at the hospital.
“I was feeling like maybe it was a bad dream, maybe somebody gonna wake me up,” says his father Mohammad Umar. “He sleeps on my chest. I see him everywhere.”
Emma says they've now signed up to take a first aid class and they encourage others to do the same.
You can contact the American Red Cross for information, or check with your local fire department to see if they offer a free class.
