A dog owner revealed how her pet saved her life by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre.
Rachel Hayes, of Carmarthenshire, West Wales, thought she was going to die
as she choked on a strawberry sweet while sitting in her kitchen.
But as she gasped for air, the 40-year-old woman's faithful springer spaniel Mollypops sprang into action and hit her so hard
on the back with her paws that the sweet popped out.
Miss Hayes said: ‘She is an absolute hero - If it had not been for Mollypops I would have died.
‘I was sat down and this sweet just got stuck in the back of my throat,
and I was trying to get it up but I couldn't, and I didn't know what to do.’
Miss Hayes, who lives with Mollypops in the rural village of Drefach Felindre, could not call out.
She said: ‘I couldn't phone anyone because I couldn't talk. I was having difficulty breathing
and was doing my best to get it out. But Mollypops's sixth sense kicked in
and she knew I was in trouble.
‘I kept pushing her away because I couldn't really breathe but then she came up behind me,
put her paws on me, and bashed on my back with such a force that the sweet came out.’
Miss Hayes said she could have died if ‘best friend’ Mollypops had not performed the manoeuvre.
Long live the Mollypops!
