‘Learn first aid’ says Cork dad who helped save his baby’s life

Shane Keane and Courtney Coffey's 11-month-old daughter, Alaya, recovering at home on Sunday after she nearly choked to death on a small piece of toast at home on Saturday.
Shane Keane and Courtney Coffey's 11-month-old daughter, Alaya, recovering at home on Sunday after she nearly choked to death on a small piece of toast at home on Saturday.
A young Cork couple have encouraged people to learn basic life-saving skills which proved critical in saving their baby girl Alaya’s life over the weekend.
Shane Keane and Courtney Coffey lived through every parent’s worst nightmare on Saturday morning when their baby girl Alaya began to choke on a piece of toast.
Speaking to Neil Prendeville on RedFM yesterday, Mr Keane said he was upstairs in their home when his partner Courtney called out for him when she realised Alaya was choking.
Mr Keane said Alaya was “completely blue” when he got downstairs.
“There was no sound out of her,” he told the Neil Prendeville Show. “She just started changing colour.”
Having been trained in first aid through his job, and specifically in child first aid last year, Mr Keane began back slaps and R while his dad rang for an ambulance which they were informed was 10 minutes out.
“I heard the ambulance would be 10 minutes so I said to my partner, we have to go in the car,” he said.
En route to the hospital, they ed by the fire station in Ballyvolane where they saw firefighters getting into a fire engine so they pulled up and called for help.
Mr Keane said he told them that his child wasn’t breathing and that they took her right away to work on her before the ambulance arrived and she was transported to Cork University Hospital where tests were carried out and it was confirmed that she was going to be okay.
Mr Keane thanked all of the firefighters involved in saving Alaya’s life and encouraged parents to learn child first aid.
Second officer with Cork City Fire Brigade, Victor Shine, said Alaya’s parents did “an amazing job” and that she was saved because of their quick thinking and also urged parents of young kids to take part in a first aid course.
Mr Shine said the crew who worked on Alaya were responding to the call when Alaya’s parents pulled up at the fire station.
“A vast proportion of our calls are medical calls of all different types and this is probably the most rewarding — the very young and the most vulnerable,” he said.
Mr Shine said time is critical in these scenarios and encouraged everyone to do a course on basic life saving to be prepared for such an incident.
“It’s a life skill that everybody should have,” he said.
Keep up-to-date with the top stories in Cork with our daily newsletter straight to your inbox.
Please click here for our privacy statement.
5 minutes ago
Scéalta Chorcaí: Ailliliú, puilliliú! Tá an Chincís tar éis aiséirí i mBaile Mhúirne40 seconds ago
‘Very clear’ garda chief giving Dublin priority and Cork need more gardaí, says Taoiseach40 seconds ago
Phone pouch plan is ‘20 years too late’, says Cork school principal41 seconds ago
Businesses hail return of Garda van to Cork cityHave you ed your FREE App?
It's all about Cork!
38 minutes ago
Catfish and the Bottlemen at Fairview Park: Everything you need to know11 hours ago
Man (20s) arrested after drugs worth €119,000 and €9,500 cash seized in West Dublin11 hours ago
PSNI prepares ‘scaled-up’ operation for weekend after disorder12 hours ago
Minister asked to comment on detention of TD Paul Murphy in EgyptAdd Echolive.ie to your home screen - easy access to Cork news, views, sport and more