Northampton shop manager who saved boy from choking to death says '˜he did what any good person would have done'

Callum Cherry, aged 28, was on a break outside the sports store in Riverside Retail Park on Friday shortly before 7pm when he saw Lucas Laghari choking.

Mr Cherry ran over to the boy, who was with his parents, and he hit him on the back a number of times before the popcorn came out and he then performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

An ambulance was called and the boy was taken to hospital but has now made a full recovery. The boy’s parents have credited Mr Cherry with saving their son’s life.

Mr Cherry, who receives regular first aid training as part of his job, said: “The parents were obviously very panicky. I hit him on the back three to six times and he then fell to the floor. I then put 10 breaths in to him and then he got up and was sick.

“I think any good person would have done exactly the same. It just goes to show how much damage a bit of popcorn can do.”

Speaking to the Chron, Lucas’s father, Mick, said he could not thank Mr Cherry enough for his actions.

Mr Laghari said: “Without a doubt, he could have died. He didn’t have to do what he did, but he was brilliant.

“He even bought drinks for the family from Boots to calm us down. We can’t thank him enough.”

The family, who come from Bedford, were on a summer break at Billing Aquadrome but were forced to cut their stay short after the incident.

Mr Laghari says it has made him and his wife Shanay, 46, think about taking a first aid course in the future.

He said: “We’ve got four young children, Angelo, 10, Dominique, eight, Martha, three, and Lucas.

“It’s made us think about doing a first aid course in case something happens to any of them.

“We saw Lucas struggling and didn’t know what to do. You never think it could happen, but my son nearly died because of a piece of popcorn of all things.”