Almost two-thirds of York parents don’t know how to save a choking baby’s life, it has emerged.

Concern that the ignorance may be costing young lives has spurred the St John Ambulance Brigade to launch a national campaign, with well-known showbusiness personalities voicing an animated advertisement to teach people what to do in such an emergency.

If you want to know how important this skill is, just ask Phillip Windass of Wigginton, who saved his toddler son from choking on a piece of Lego only one week after receiving first-aid training.

Philip was looking after son Joshuah and daughter Jessica at home when he realised there was something seriously wrong.

Jessica was panic-stricken and Joshuah was struggling to breathe.

Philip guessed correctly that his son had got a piece of Lego trapped in his airway and acted swiftly to dislodge it with techniques picked up in the training he’d just undergone.

What an amazing piece of good fortune.

As Philip says, the situation is a nightmare for parents. Who can tell what the outcome may have been had he not known just what to do?

Now Phillip wants all parents to get first-aid trained, and we join in him in that sending out that message. The TV ads are coming up soon, so make sure that you catch them. You never know - they could just save your youngster’s life.