A YOUNG girl choked to death on a piece of chicken in front of her mum - on her sister's first birthday.

Sana Nadim, 11, ran inside the house gasping for air.

Her mum Shaida said: "She dropped within seconds to the floor and turned blue. It was a horrible blue.

"My friend and my sisters tried to resuscitate her and get the chicken out, I was too panicked. But they couldn't get her to breathe and they couldn't get the chicken out - it was stuck.

"She was unconscious and her heart had stopped beating."

The piece of chicken that killed Sana was boneless and no bigger than a 50p piece. The tragedy happened after the family, including nine-year-old brother Harif, had celebrated the first birthday of baby Noor-Imaan.

Shaida, from Birchfield Avenue, Longsight, said: "Sana was my first-born - I can't explain what it's like losing her. I'm living - but only for the sake of the other children. It's like losing a piece of my body, I get a dead feeling all the time. She was a fantastic bubbly girl who liked art, craft, maths and English at school, and had lots of friends."

Sana, who had just left Stanley Grove Primary in Longsight and was due to start Levenshulme High School for Girls, was taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary before being transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital at Pendlebury.

But she never regained consciousness after the incident on July 27 and her life support was switched off on August 2. Shaida says her daughter received excellent care at MRI and Pendlebury.

But she has complained to the ambulance service about the time it took to arrive and the route it took to the hospital.

A spokeswoman for the ambulance service told the M.E.N: "The trust has received a complaint regarding the incident and is investigating.

The Child Accident Prevention Trust say 10,000 children between the ages of five and 14 - and 15,000 under the age of five - are treated at British accident and emergency units for choking incidents.

Deaths are quite rare. The most recent statistics reveal that 16 children aged under the age of 15 died as a result of choking in Britain in 2005 - 12 of whom were under-five. Advice to prevent choking is geared toward younger children.

Parents are advised to cut food into small pieces, clear away burst balloons, and avoid giving their children toys toys with small parts.