Choking Victim Thanks Those Who Rescued Him

DENVER (CBS4)- A three-year-old who nearly choked to death on a rubber ball said "Thank you" to all of the people who helped him.

Jamal Tanner started choking on Oct. 22.

911 dispatcher Reba Rose gave emergency instructions over the phone while his mother performed CPR, but Jamal wasn't breathing.

"Not knowing whether or not he was going to survive, I was terrified," said said Jamal's mother Monte Armstrong.

He had no pulse and his heart wasn't beating when firefighters and paramedics arrived.

"I was afraid. I was afraid because I'm watching my son's face turn purple," said Armstrong.

"I looked in his mouth and I couldn't really see the ball and I put my fingers in, felt the ball and then just popped it out," said Denver Firefighter Lacy Harmony.

Paramedics then got Jamal's heart beating. He spent 10 days in intensive care at Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children at Presbyterian St. Luke's.

Jamal is undergoing some physical and speech therapy, but his mother said thanks to all his rescuers, he's doing fine.

"When I get out of the hospital I feel like I'm good," said Jamal.

"I can't give them enough thanks," said Armstrong.

When he thanked everyone who helped him on Wednesday, he was able to sit in the driver's seat of a Denver Fire Engine.