Parrot hailed as a hero for warning owner about little girl choking

Published: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 | 9:33 AM ET

Canadian Press NewsItem/NewsComponent/NewsLines/ByLine

DENVER - A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl in Denver, Col., choked on her breakfast has been honoured as a hero.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the local Red Cross chapter's Animal Lifesaver Award. In November, Willie's owner, Megan Howard, was babysitting a toddler.

Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.
Willie repeatedly yelled "Mama, baby" and flapped his wings, and Howard returned in time to find the girl already turning blue.

Howard saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre but says Willie "is the real hero."

"The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I've heard it," Hannah's mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. "My heart drops in my stomach and I get all teary eyed."

Willie got his award during a "Breakfast of Champions" event Friday attended by Gov. Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.