A MUM whose toddler son almost choked to death on a sweet is searching for the unknown hero who saved his life.

Katie Blood was at the checkout at Asda Middlebrook when 18-month-old son Lawson started choking on a mint his three-year-old sister Angel had given him.

As distraught Ms Blood, aged 26, attempted to help struggling Lawson a customer at a nearby checkout suddenly stepped forward and took control of the situation.

‘He just said, ‘I’m first aid trained, give him to me,”’ said Ms Blood.

After a couple of minutes the man had managed to dislodge the mint and Lawson was breathing normally.

But as paramedics arrived to take Lawson to hospital for a check-up the unsung hero picked up his shopping and quietly slipped away.

The importance of the man’s actions was reinforced when Ms Blood spoke to doctors at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

‘They said, ‘Do you realise that if it wasn’t for this man then, more than likely, there would have been a different outcome – he wouldn’t be here today,”’ said Ms Blood.

“I can’t thank him enough.”

Ms Blood, aged 26, the children and her partner, Sam Smith, had been enjoying a day out at the seaside at St Annes and were returning home to their Hawthorn Road, Walkden home when they decided to stop off at Middlebrook so Angel could visit Smyths toy store.

While there they decided to pop into Asda to buy milk and it was whilst the family were at the self-service checkout that the drama began.

As Ms Blood tried to remember first aid videos she had watched and started patting Lawson on the back, the hero stepped forward and took over.

“To me it felt like forever,” said Ms Blood who added that it was a couple of minutes before, to her great relief, Lawson started breathing properly again.

A visit to the GP the following day has shown he is now back to normal, although he still needs checks to make sure his lungs have not been damaged.

Ms Blood thanked the rescuer at the time but did not take his name and is now determined to find him to thank him properly.

“It is still all quite a blur,” she said. “They were crazy minutes and you totally forget everything.”

She cannot recall what the man looked like but is planning to view the store’s CCTV footage in the hope of identifying him and has put an appeal out on her Facebook page.

“I just want to thank him and see if he is ok as well. It must have been one of the most scary things anyone ever has to witness,” said Ms Blood.

“Nothing will ever compare to what he has done.”

In the meantime Ms Blood has booked herself onto a child first aid course and is encouraging all her friends to do the same.

“I wouldn’t want anyone else to go through what I went through – it was unbearable,” she said.