By JAMES HARTLEY
@JamesHartleyETC

Linda Bois, a worker at the childcare center in the K building, saved the life of a choking child at the Babies R Us near Town East in Mesquite.

The incident happened Feb. 23 when Bois and her daughter, Erica, were leaving the store and heard a commotion. Erica went to investigate and found a baby choking.

“She turns around and goes, ‘My mom knows CPR,’ ” Bois said. “She dialed 911, but she never got through to anybody.”

The child had swallowed a penny. Bois immediately started compressions to help the child breathe.

“I told all the people, ‘Watch me,’ ” Bois said. “I said, ‘Y’all need to know this. Y’all all have babies.’ ”

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Soon the penny was out, and the baby was breathing again. Bois returned the child to its mother.

“I just did what I was trained to do,” Bois said.

Sharon Cook, assistant to the president at Eastfield, said she wasn’t at all surprised that Bois stepped in.

Cook, who has been friends with Bois since 1992 and sent her children to school with Bois’, said she is a quick, reactive person.

“She’s a great mother and has those woman and motherly instincts — caring, kindhearted, wonderful-natured woman — all of those qualities that are important for early childhood or any caregiving responsibility,” Cook said.

Elaine Clark, Bois’ supervisor, said Bois’ nature makes her a good caregiver for the children enrolled in the Eastfield childcare center.

“She’s active and caring and just a good person,” Clark said.

Clark believes that Bois becoming a grandparent has made her an even better caretaker.

“She has such a passion for teaching and the kids in her class,” Clark wrote in an email. “She has a wonderful work ethic and is constantly finding ways to help the children become stronger and capable people in society.”

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Cook believes that Bois is a good example of what a caregiver should look like.

“I think it’s important for anyone who’s in one of those childcare and caregiving roles, the dedication they have,” Cook said. “Linda is truly dedicated. She loves those children. They love her. Parents love her because they know that she has those qualities that when they leave their child, they want to know that that child is being taken care of by someone who is caring and loving. And those are some of her big qualities.”

— David Silva contributed to this report