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Choking toddler saved by babysitter's parrot
Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions
When two-year-old Hannah started choking on her snack, no one was around to help. No one human, anyway. Hannah's babysitter was in the bathroom, completely unaware, but someone did see that Hannah needed help - the babysitter's pet parrot.
The bird started shrieking loudly, then began to repeat the words, "Mama, baby, mama, baby," over and over again. Meagan, the babysitter, spotted the child, who had already began to turn blue, and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Hannah is fine, much to the relief of her parents and sitter.
It's fairly common to hear about cats and dogs sounding the alarm when family members are in trouble. When our ancient dog fell into our pool late one evening years ago and couldn't get out, our cat literally saved her life by meowing in a way we couldn't possibly ignore. But this is the first time I've heard about a bird, especially a bird that's not part of the family, saving a child's life. It's a good reminder that our pets are a lot more complex than we give them credit for.
What about you -- do you have any amazing family pet stories to share?
The bird started shrieking loudly, then began to repeat the words, "Mama, baby, mama, baby," over and over again. Meagan, the babysitter, spotted the child, who had already began to turn blue, and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Hannah is fine, much to the relief of her parents and sitter.
It's fairly common to hear about cats and dogs sounding the alarm when family members are in trouble. When our ancient dog fell into our pool late one evening years ago and couldn't get out, our cat literally saved her life by meowing in a way we couldn't possibly ignore. But this is the first time I've heard about a bird, especially a bird that's not part of the family, saving a child's life. It's a good reminder that our pets are a lot more complex than we give them credit for.
What about you -- do you have any amazing family pet stories to share?
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ReaderComments (Page 2 of 2)
11-13-2008 @ 1:31PM
MAUREEN said...What a sad but, touching story!!! Animals are family and they feel the need to be with us and protect us. I hope ypur dog will be fine!! Or is fine by now....they are truly man's best friend... glad your sister is fine too!!
11-14-2008 @ 8:41AM
Nikki said...He was a great dog. He lived till he was about 15 years old, this incident was when he was probably 3 years old - we had just gotten him as a pet at that point. He ended up getting stomach cancer and dying, but he lived long. The cancer took him out real quick though - it was within 2 weeks that we had to put him down. But we ended up rescuing another dog from the shelter after he passed away. And many more as well!
11-13-2008 @ 1:41PM
MAUREEN said...Glad everthing is ok with the person who's apt was broken into. To imagine a burgular being chased by a cat is comical. But, don't get me wrong the situation sounds like it turned out well. The burgular and the blind cat should be a ribbing story and an embarrassing one for the burgular. It sounds so cartoon like but, serious. Who would of ever thought that a blind cat no doubt would save the day. You never know what surprise you will get when you break into a house!!! Best to the cat and the victim of the break-in.
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11-13-2008 @ 1:42PM
Sharon said...I love all these great pet stories. Animals have that 6th sense, that's for sure. Now one about a wonderful horse. He's 26 now and been with me for over 15 years. A few years ago early one morning about 3 AM, I sat up in bed with a start and could sense that he was calling me to the barn. I got up and put my barn jacket and boots on and went out to the barn and here I found the horse in the stall next to him cast against the wall, unable to get up. I got my husband up and we were able to free him by moving the wall between the stalls. And if it didn't happen again about 2 weeks later and with the same thing. I sat up with a start in bed, sensing something was wrong and the same horse had done the same thing. Again we were abel to free him. About a year later, I was sitting watching TV after dinner and all of a sudden I had a sense from him to go to the barn. I walked in and I couldn't see anything wrong. I went by my horse and asked him what was wrong, and he'd look at the wall and then and me and then at the wall and so on. I went to the wall he was looking at and there I found an extension cord plugged in that was hot to the touch. When I went to move the extension cord, it zapped back to the outlet throwing sparks, threw out the circuit breaker and actually shorted out the radio that was playing. If he hadn't called me to the barn that time, we could have had a fire with all 8 horses there perishing. There were several other times he'd call me to the barn, but they weren't the "Oh my God" emergencies like these 3 times. A couple times a horse had gotten out of a stall and was tearing apart full bales of hay on the floor. So whatever happens that horse is staying with me for the rest of his life. He's been a life saver more than once.
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