8-year-old girl thanks Ottawa cop who stepped in when she was choking

CTV Ottawa: Emotional reunion after heroic rescue Eight year old Emmah Ross meets Const. Tia Pippy, who rushed to her rescue as she was choking in a West Ottawa restaurant.

It was an emotional encounter between a little girl and an Ottawa police officer today; their first meeting two days after the officer saved her life.  Eight-year-old Emmah Ross was choking on a piece of bacon at the Chances R Restaurant Saturday when Constable Tina Pippy swung into action.

Emmah Ross and her mother Stefanie offered flowers and hugs today to Cst. Pippy; a fitting thank you from both of them after the scare of their lives on Saturday.

“You went above and beyond,” Ross told the officer as she hugged her.

“I’m so grateful I was here and that we came into each other’s lives,” Cst. Pippy responded, “I guess we are connected forever.”

Emmah Ross was at Chances R on Saturday for breakfast with her family, celebrating her big brother's birthday, when a chunk of bacon got lodged in her throat.

“It was pretty scary,” Emmah recalls, “I never actually choked before.”

Security footage from inside the restaurant shows Cst. Tina Pippy calmly getting up, asking Stefanie if Emmah is choking, applying 3 thrusts then sitting back down. It was the first time she'd ever used those skills. It all happened in mere seconds.

“In under 15 seconds someone gets up, saves a life and then goes back to eating breakfast,” says Mike Bouris, the owner of Chances R, “like no big deal, right?”

But it was a very big deal for all of them.

“She saved my daughter's life,” says an emotional Stefanie Ross, “That's a big deal. She acted like it wasn't a big deal, just did it, went back to her table but at the end of the day it was a very big deal.”

Ross managed to grab a photo with Tina and knew she was an off-duty police officer but didn’t know her last name or how to contact her to thank her properly.  Pippy, who also has a young daughter, saw our story on CTV last night, and responded.

“Honestly, for me it was just reacting,” says Pippy, “It wasn't doing anything over and above. But when I saw how grateful she and her mom were, it had a little bit of a different meaning.”

Emmah's mom says she's learned how important it is to know CPR and First Aid, especially with 4 kids.

“I'm going to be doing that this week. It's never too late. I should have done it a long time ago.”

As for Emmah, what did she learn from this?

“Ask for your bacon crisp, there you go,” she laughs.

The three plan to meet again.  Emmah wants to connect for breakfast and told her mother that she's good to eat bacon as long as Constable Pippy is with her.