He is too young to know it, but 30-day-old Zane Flavell owes his life to his father's quick actions after the infant was struck down with whooping cough a week ago.
David Snook, of Waiuku, recalls watching his son stop breathing then turn purple early one morning, after sufferingwhat seemed like an ordinary sniffle for two days.
"I blew some air through Zane's nose. I remember learning in school that babies' lungs are too fragile for you to breathe through their mouths.
"Zane coughed up a little milk and started breathing again. Then I raced over to the garage to call an ambulance while Zane's mother continued with the CPR."
Zane Flavell is now recovering in Middlemore Hospital, and is likely to be discharged in the next few days. He is one of an increasing number of babies the hospital is seeing with the potentially fatal disease.
Mr Snook is now spending every minute of each day with his son. "I was pretty upset when it happened and really worried he was going to die.
"He is a bright little thing. When he grows up he is going to be the next [All Black] Tana Umaga."
Zane Flavell had not had an immunisation shot because his tiny body was too young to cope with it. Babies are not immunised against the disease until they are six weeks old.
But Mr Snook has a message for parents anyway. "Make sure you give them a shot straight away. Get on to it as soon as possible."
Middlemore paediatrician Wendy Walker says the hospital has another baby almost exactly the same age as Zane Flavell with whooping cough, and is seeing an increase in the epidemic that has made its way up the country from Invercargill. Health officials say the epidemic could last for another 18 months.
