Caught on camera: mum's quick action saves her baby from choking

Jennifer Hull sprang into "mummy mode".
Jennifer Hull sprang into "mummy mode".  

When Texan mum Jennifer Hull heard her one-year-old gasping for air she immediately sprang into "mummy mode", saving her daughter Hollis's life.

Hollis had been playing with her three-year-old sister Hatilynn and eating veggie chips when one of the chips got lodged in her throat. Hull heard her daughter choking, and thankfully knew exactly what to do.

The 34-year-old started hitting Hollis on the back, and when that didn't work, she performed the Heimlich manueuver, ultimately dislodging the chip.

Jennifer Hull with her daughters, Hollis and Hatilynn.
Jennifer Hull with her daughters, Hollis and Hatilynn.  

"I immediately jumped into mummy mode when it happened," Hull told ABC News. "It was very scary."

Hull says that she was petrified for the rest of the day but it wasn't until she saw her husband in the evening that the severity of the incident really hit home.

"We were both so shocked at how scary it really was," Hull said. "It's even scarier when we think of what the outcome could have been."

The thankful mum said that she credits her first aid knowledge to the infant safety classes she took during pregnancy. As the entire incident was captured on the family's nanny cam, she decided to share it.

"At first I was reluctant to share the actual footage of her choking because it's so personal," she said.

But Hull, who worked as a teacher before having children, hopes that the short clip will encourage parents and parents-to-be to sign up for first aid classes.

"We sat through every class that our hospital gave," she said.

"It's the least that you can do if you're going to bring a baby into the world."

However, she also notes that no amount of training can prepare you emotionally. "It's different when it's your child who's helpless and gasping for air," she explained.

Watch a video on how to perform CPR on babies and toddlers below.