Indiana prison guard helps save infant choking on food

CARLISLE, Ind. (AP) - A guard at a southwestern Indiana prison is being credited with helping save an infant who was choking on food in the prison's visiting area.

Prison officials say Officer Regina Ward was working in a Wabash Valley Correctional Facility visiting room April 1 when she noticed the 1-year-old choking on a potato chip.

Ward offered to help the stricken baby and the infant's grandmother handed her the child. She then gave the infant back blows until the potato chip was expelled.

Ward then returned the infant to the grateful grandmother. She says she just reacted by "instinct" and "did what I'm trained to do."

The (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star reports that Ward has worked for 25 years at the prison near Carlisle, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) south of Terre Haute.

___

Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com