A pair of Edinburgh Asda workers have been hailed as heroes after saving the life of a baby who stopped breathing outside of the store.
Dean Carpenter and James Jenkins had raced to the aid of local parents Beth Williams and Jack Allan after their 16-month-old son Finlay began to turn blue and 'flopped sideways.'
Visiting the store at the Edinburgh Jewel, the family had enjoyed a fun day out before Finlay took a sudden turn for the worst and began to have convulsions.
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Quick to step in and help, pharmacy colleague James had stripped the toddler down to his nappy while James had called 999 and taken instructions from the call handler.
With Finlay's breathing becoming laboured and then stopping completely, Dean was able to calmly massage his chest until he started to breathe again.
Beth and Jack, who are both 21, say they will forever be thankful to Dean and James for what they did.
Beth said: "We'd all just been to soft play and were about to go into Asda. I'd just put him into a trolley at the front doors and he just flopped sideways and started crying. He was very, very warm.
"I went straight into the shop to find someone who could help. I was a bit panicky at this point, but luckily James and Dean were there.
"The whole situation only lasted about ten minuted but it felt like forever as we didn't know what was going on. We didn't have a clue. Finlay went blue at one point and when he stopped breathing as well. I just don't know what I was thinking, it was just so scary.
"We're so grateful to James and Dean for everything they did for us. It's every parent’s worst nightmare when their baby takes ill and the two gentlemen were incredible.
“Their professionalism, calmness and consideration were so appreciated. They immediately came to Finlay’s aid and we will always be thankful for that.”
Finlay was taken by ambulance to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary and by that point he'd stopped having seizures.
Beth said: "When he got there they monitored him overnight and took his temperature every four hours and gave him medication to get his temperate down, and he was allowed out the following morning. The doctors thought it might have been caused by his teeth which were just coming through, but he had signs of common cold too. He's totally fine now, thankfully.
Sixty-one-year-old Dean, who's worked at the store for five years, has two grown-up children and two grandchildren, aged five and three.
He said: "I was in the warehouse when I got a call from our store manager Collette McSorley to say there was a little baby involved.
"It's always scarier when it's a baby. When it's an adult you can talk to people and ask them 'how's it going?' and 'where is the pain?' but with a baby you have no interaction whatsoever.
"James works in the pharmacy so he was on the doorstep when it happened. He was comforting the baby as he was still having convulsions and I took over the 999 call.
"The baby was roasting at this time – when the paramedics arrived he was about 38/39C. James stripped Finlay down and put him on a blanket to try to cool him down.
"I was behind the baby and James was at the front. I was relaying information to the 999 handler and then Finlay stopped convulsing and you could hear his breathing, which was just gargling, bubbly and liquid. His temperature then just dropped and he started to go to sleep, which the call handler said was normal after convulsions.
"But just before the paramedics came into the shop he stopped breathing. I just thought 'no, not now' so I gave him a massage, a gentle rub and a squeeze and he started breathing again. He'd only stopped for about a second, but it seemed to go on for 45 minutes. It was scary as hell. Me and James just looked at each other in total relief.
“We are just so pleased that Finlay was okay in the end and we were able to help at such a traumatic time for the parents.
"James and I both went into autopilot and did everything we could to help. The adrenaline saw us through."
James, who's 55 and has worked at the store for four months, said: "Finlay was fitting quite badly when I first saw him and he was burning up. He was so hot, you couldn't believe it. So I stripped him down to his nappy to try to cool him off.
"I'm thankful to be trained in first aid and I am so glad Dean and I were able to help Finlay. I would always be there to help anyone and on this occasion our training kicked in and we were a great support to each other throughout.
"When it was over I sat down in the canteen and I was sweating buckets. It was such a relief that Finlay was okay. It was great to see them all and Finlay well when they came into the shop a few days later too."
Store manager Colette, who nominated Dean and James for Asda service superstar awards, said the store was proud of them both.
She said: "They are a true credit to the store. I was really impressed with how they maintained control of the situation.
"It was very pressured and emotional with Finlay being so young, but they kept their cool and were absolute professionals. We are so grateful to have them as part of the team at Asda Edinburgh."
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