THE mother of a two-year-old boy who suffered a sudden seizure in a Porthmadog store has thanked staff for acting quickly to save his life.

Two-year-old William Goddard, from Somerset, was shopping with his parents, Caroline and Andrew Goddard, in the Wilko store when he suddenly became seriously ill.

Mrs Goddard said: “William was being a typical boy trying to pick up things he shouldn’t do in the shop and as I took his hands and knelt down next to him to explain why he wasn’t allowed to touch things, all of a sudden his head fell back and he went floppy. I thought at first he was just being angry and about to have a tantrum.

“I pulled him forward to me and his eyes had rolled back and his mouth had clamped shut.

“He also didn’t appear to be breathing and I started to panic.”

Mr Goddard alerted the customer service team who then called for an ambulance and two members of staff, Trina Jones and Anna Marie Dukes, came quickly to help.

Trina, an assistant manager at the store, said: “Me and Anna have both done our first aid training so went straight over to little William to see what we could do to help.

“We tried keeping everyone calm until the ambulance arrived as we knew everyone was worrying bec­ause the little boy was so young.”

Luckily the toddler gained consciousness before the paramedics arrived and Mrs Goddard says she was extremely grateful to the staff for their support during the terrifying incident.

She said: “A woman, who I’m assu­ming was another customer, told me take off his clothes and lie him on pillows until the paramedics arrived.

“A young shop assistant brought the pillows over and a flannel and also a chair for me as I’m heavily pregnant.

“This same girl was very calming and helped us so much as myself and my husband were so panicked; in that moment all my first aid knowledge was forgotten.”

She added: “I have never been that scared in my life and I’m so thankful to that customer and the members of staff who helped us deal with what happened, considering we are not local they made us feel like we were.”

Trina said the team at the store were pleased to hear Will­iam, had made a full recovery following the seizure.

She said: “We are so pleased to hear little William was okay and the family got to enjoy the rest of their holiday.”