It took a minute it to register in veteran 911 operator Britney Melchor’s mind.
When the caller, asking for help reviving his choking child, said his address it sounded familiar – all too familiar.
"I heard him say an address and I perked up and then I heard him say it again and I recognized that as my own home address," she said.
Calmly she began to assist the caller – her fiancé, Robert Kimball.
Her 14-month-old son Maverick had been playing in the bedroom while his father moved furniture in the living room. But Kimball soon realized something was wrong.
He found his young son choking on a metal washer and called 911 for help.
"I tried to see what's going on and I realize he was choking," Kimball told KCRA. "When I first found him, his face was kind of like a pink-red. As it progressed and he started having more trouble breathing, it got to a bright red and then he just went pale in face."
Kimball, a former hospital orderly, continued to try to dislodge the washer while Melchor was on the line listening in agony.
Finally, the washer broke free of Maverick’s airway and he began to breathe. On Wednesday, Maverick was well on his way to recovery.
In her years as a 911 operator Melchor has come to the aid of dozens of people in distress, but it is certain that one call will always remain foremost in her mind.
"Mommy mode kind of hit - like, "That's my son,'" she told KCRA. "I panicked. But then I was like, 'You know what? I got to get him to the help he absolutely needs.'"
