Mychel Hendricks wasn’t expecting to encounter a potential life-or-death situation while working as a waiter during the lunchtime rush – but when it happened, he knew exactly what to do.
Hendricks works at the Kelsey’s restaurant on Ottawa Street South in Kitchener.
Earlier this month, Karli Walters met a friend there for lunch. In tow was her nine-month-old son Kyle.
Not long into their visit, Kyle started choking on a french fry.
“I was terrified,” Walters recalls. “I needed to be able to help my son, and I couldn’t.”
Seeing the boy’s face starting to change colour, Hendricks quickly jumped in and started performing first aid.
He kept it up until Kyle made a noise, signalling that he was OK, and the food shot out of his mouth.
“It was kind of a surreal moment,” Hendricks says. “I was just happy to help.”
For Hendricks, it was the third time he’d been able to put his CPR and first aid training to use.
He hopes his story can convince other people to take the same training.
“You never know when you’ll need it. You never know when you can help somebody out,” he says.
Walters echoes that message, calling the waiter a hero for jumping in when her son needed help.
“If it wasn’t for him, I don’t know what the outcome would have been,” she says.
Hendricks was recognized for his actions by the City of Kitchener Monday night.
With reporting by Mary Cranston
