Hero Brother, Mason Shirhall, Shares Life-Saving Tips On Visit To WLNY's The Couch

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- One of the scariest things a parent can come face to face with is a choking child.

Or for Erin Shirhall, her son silently choking while her back was turned. It happened to her last weekend when her 10-year-old son, Gavin choked on a meatball at dinner in their Vernon, N.J., home.

But his 7-year-old brother, Mason Shirhall, didn't waste a second when he saw his older sibling unable to breathe or talk.

"Gavin said, 'Mom, I almost just chocked to death and Mason gave me the Heimlich,'" Erin Shirhall said.

"I looked at him and then I was like … It made me get up and help him," Mason said.

"I was terrified. Glad I had my brother here. A big meatball…lodged in my throat," Gavin said.

Both boys learned the Heimlich maneuver almost a year ago from their father, who is a volunteer firefighter and Cub Scout leader.

The entire family visited The Couch on Tuesday. Watch the complete interview - and a demonstration on the Heimlich Maneuver on TV 10-55's John Elliott.