A RETAINED firefighter has been hailed a hero after she stepped in to save a choking baby during her ‘day job’ – just weeks after completing first aid training with the service.

Natalie Wilson was working at Tesco in Rawtenstall when she heard a commotion in the aisles and rushed to see the girl struggling to breathe after getting a piece of fruit stuck in her throat.

While others froze, brave Natalie told the tot’s mother to hand over the child and then smacked her on the back to dislodge the obstruction.

The 30-year-old from Edenfield is fruit and vegetables manager at the Rossendale supermarket, but it was her intensive training as an on-call firefighter that she credits with giving her the ability to act swiftly as others panicked.

Natalie said: “Someone said a baby was choking, so I ran over to see what was happening.

“A crowd had gathered and a lot of people had frozen, not sure what to do.

“I had completed a trauma course in July, which included a section on choking, so the training was fresh in my mind.

“I could hear that the baby was struggling to breathe and she was crying, so she was obviously very distressed.

“I hit her on the back and the fruit flew out.

“It’s the first thing I’ve had to do since the training and I felt relieved that I’d been able to help.

“It’s scary that people don’t know what to do in situations like that and I would advise everyone to get some sort of first aid training. You don’t want to be in the position where you don’t know what to do.”

Watch manager of the retained unit at Rawtenstall Fire Station, Nigel Greenwood, said: “We are very proud of Natalie.

“These skills from her trauma training show the advantages of being a retained fire officer.”

Natalie joined the retained firefighter programme last year.

She added: “I’m a black belt in kick boxing, so I like to push myself, and I decided to give it a go.

“It takes two months to get accepted. You have to go through an application process, fitness tests and training, and it means 100 per cent commitment. I absolutely love it.”

Store manager Pat Byrne said: “We’re are very proud of Natalie and what she did.”