Sonia from Asda Handsworth saves life of choking baby

Here's the moment checkouts colleague Sonia Bibby from our Sheffield Handsworth store met up again with one-year baby Makiah Khan whose life she saved when he choked on some food by one of the tills.

His mum, Ashleigh, and six-year-old sister Malicah called in at the store to say thank you again to Sonia, who was recently named regional winner in the Asda service superstar wards for her heroics.

Sonia, who's 53 and has worked at the store for 19 years, said: "It was lovely to see them all in better circumstances and it was nice to see Makiah happy and not crying."

Sonia was on self checkouts when she spotted Makiah choking and coughing in a trolley basket seat.

She said: "He was panicking as he couldn't get his breath. His mum saw him at the same time as I did and picked him up. My Instinct was to say 'pass him to me' which she did.

"He had a thick coat on, so I took it off. Then a lady customer came over and said for me to turn him on belly and pat his back hard, so I bent him forward and hit him with the palm of my hand. It didn't work at first, so I tried to loosen some of the bits in his mouth with my fingers, and then patted him again and the stuck pieces came out, thank God.

”My heart was going ten to the dozen. It was such a relief. It brought a bit of a tear to my eye when Makiah started to cry and just wanted his mum. I then went to the cafe to get him some juice."

Sonia, who has two children, Ryan who's 26 and 21-year-old Katie, said she was overwhelmed to have won the Asda award.

She said: "Anybody else would have done the same. I saw Makiah choking and instinct took over. His mum was very grateful but I was just doing my job. I was just relieved that he was fine afterwards."

Ashleigh, who's 32, said her whole family were grateful to Sonia and the customer who helped.

She said: "We were at the till and Makiah must have been putting food into his mouth without me realising it. I looked over and he was choking and struggling to breathe. It was just awful.

"When I got home afterwards I couldn't stop thinking of how Sonia and the other lady both potentially saved his life. My family and I are very grateful, and I'm so glad Sonia got an award for what she did. She was so kind to us afterwards too.

"I was so scared and in shock. The whole incident just felt like it was going on forever. Thankfully, Makiah is fully back to himself and it's not put him off his food."

Greg Wood, Asda Handsworth's customer manager, says everyone at the store is so proud of Sonia.

He said: "It was an amazing act of heroism that potentially saved the child's life. Sonia is just amazing. She's loved by everyone who works with her and always has a smile on her face. She goes the extra mile every shift that she's on."