Sheffield mum whose nine-week-old son stopped breathing campaigns for free baby first aid courses

Nicola Afflick was looking after her nine-week-old son Ethan last Monday (March 15) at home in Norton when he suddenly stopped breathing and went ‘grey and limp’.

As a nursery nurse Nicola is trained in how to give first aid to babies and children, and she immediatly jumped into action, rubbing Ethan’s chest and tummy to give him CPR.

She managed to get him breathing again and saved his life. Now she is campaigning to make sure other parents know how to react if they find themselves in the same terrifying situation.

“I daren’t say what I thought when it happened,” Nicola said. “I was so frightened. I thought I had lost him because his eyes were closed and I saw the colour he was and how limp he had gone.

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"It was awful.

"Because of my job I received pediatric first aid training for free, but if I hadn’t had that training I don’t know what would have happened.”

After Ethan was breathing again Nicola took him to Sheffield Children’s Hospital where she was told he had stopped breathing due to a brief resolved unexplained event (BRUE).

Doctors told Nicola BRUE affects one in 200 babies under 12 months old. It can happened to any baby, including ones that are completely healthy like Ethan. The cause is not known.

“I asked the doctor what would have happened if I had not done CPR and they said they didn’t know,” Nicola added.

"Now me and a friend Sam are campaigning for new parents to get free basic training so they can deal with something like this. I have spoken to my friends and most of them said they would not know and would have panicked.

"At work we get a two day, eight hour course, but just the basics for CPR and how to treat things like burns and dressing wounds would be enough.

“It would help ensure that parents are confident in dealing with potentially life threatening situations regarding their babies and children.”

Nicola and Sam have started a petition calling for the introduction of free pediatric first aid courses.

You can sign it here.