Amit Sharma – Home Page of Amit Sharma

Willie got his award during a “Breakfast of Champions” event on Friday attended by Governor Bill Ritter and Mayor John Hickenlooper.

“The part where she turned blue is always when my heart drops no matter how many times I’ve heard it,” Hannah’s mother, Samantha Kuusk, told KCNC-TV. “My heart drops in my stomach and I get all teary eyed.”

She saved Hannah by performing the Heimlich manoeuvre but said Willie “is the real hero”.

Willie repeatedly yelled “Mama, baby” and flapped his wings. Ms Howard returned to find the girl turning blue.

In November, Willie’s owner, Megan Howard, was babysitting for a toddler. Ms Howard left the room and the little girl, Hannah, started to choke on her breakfast.

Willie, a Quaker parrot, has been given the Denver Red Cross chapter’s Animal Lifesaver Award.

A parrot whose cries of alarm alerted his US owner when a little girl choked on her breakfast has been honoured as a hero.