Susanna Reid opens up about the scary moment she helped save a choking baby

Susanna Reid

Dr Hilary Jones was today celebrating 30 years of his TV work, which has seen him give medical advice to countless viewers over the years.

And it looks as though one person he's helped in particular is someone who works right alongside him.

During an interview on Good Morning Britain today, Susanna Reid revealed that she wanted to give Dr Hilary a 'massive thank you', as his advice once helped her to save a little baby's life.

Detailing the incident, the presenter revealed that some of his advice about what to do if a baby is choking helped her in real-life, when the terrifying incident actually happened right before her eyes.

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Susanna explained, “I would like to say a massive thank you because we did an item together where you showed what to do if the baby was choking. You put the baby dummy on your knee and then slapped the baby’s back.

"It was a couple of weeks after that that I was walking to the shops and a mum was screaming because her baby was choking on a bit of fruit loaf.

"I popped into the house and said, ‘Let’s try this’. So I popped the baby over my knee and whacked the baby on the back. In fact, it took a bit more to get that chunk of fruit loaf out of its throat, and the dad did that, but it’s that confidence that you give people. I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do.”

Fellow GMB host Laura Tobin also shared with viewers that Dr. Hilary helped her personally, when her baby daughter Charlotte arrived a few months early.

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She said, "I was at work and I thought I just had a bit of tummy pain or Braxton Hicks, and it was only Dr Hilary that knew I was actually going into labour at 27 weeks. Dr Hilary phoned the hospital, got me there safely, kept me calm and sort of kept me in the dark for a whole so I didn’t panic.

"Because of him, Charlotte arrived safely and it could have been a very different story for both of us, so thank you."

Dr Hilary later admitted that the work he's done on television has been particularly rewarding, especially when he hears stories about the people he has helped.

He told the GMB team, “I think the public health messages, that’s what this programme does well. We have had people say that they have found a breast lump or they have sent their husband to get his prostate tested and it’s saved his life. It’s really nice to hear those heartwarming stories."

Amy Hunt

Amy Hunt is an experienced digital journalist specialising in homes, interiors and hobbies. She began her career working as the features assistant at woman&home magazine, before moving over to the digital side of the brand where she eventually became the Lifestyle Editor up until January 2022. Amy won the Digital Journalist of the Year award at the AOP Awards in 2019 for her work on womanandhome.com.