Parrot Saves Choking Child

Yep, I'm a softy when it comes to animals. They are so cool. I prefer the furry, four-legged kind, especially of the canine persuasion. I revel in stories of dogs who do heroic things or are trained for special needs individuals. I was shocked to read this story -- about a parrot saving a child who was choking by alerting the girl's mother. I never give much thought to our feathered friends, finding them a bit "uncuddly" with their claws and beaks. (However, I do loooove raptors -- eagles, hawks, owls, etc.) But, what a hero this little guy is!

Check this out from MSNBC:

Parrot gets award for warning about choking tot
Willie repeatedly yelled 'Mama, baby' and flapped wings
to alert babysitter

DENVER - A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honored 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 baby-sitting for 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 maneuver but said 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.

I've heard that parrots are quite intelligent. I think this is a case in point!