2 brothers saved a choking toddler's life at an Espanola, Ont., restaurant

Thanks to a snowstorm in northeastern Ontario, a two-year-old boy is alive.

On Wednesday, Talon McGregor and his brother Mskwoka were headed to Sudbury from Whitefish River First Nation to see Avatar: The Way of Water.

But due to the snowstorm and poor driving conditions, they stopped along their route to have dinner at the Cortina Restaurant in Espanola.

They never made it to the movie.

While they were eating, Talon said, he heard a commotion at a nearby table.

"We thought, you know, it was maybe just a little ordeal with some staff and someone eating, so we didn't want to bother anyone," he said.

But when the screaming got louder, they realized something was wrong.

"That's when we heard for help," Talon said.

"So that's when you realize that it wasn't what we originally thought, and so we got up and I guess were just quick to react."

When he approached the table, he saw a little boy who appeared to be gasping for air, and someone yelled he was choking. 

Talon told the crowd he had medical training — he works as a community health nurse in Whitefish River First Nation — and asked if someone could hand him the boy.

"So I started doing, you know, what I was trained [to do] and just continuously trying to keep going no matter what."

He used back blows and abdominal thrusts to help clear the away of the toddler, who was choking on a piece of bread.

Talon said the child was unresponsive for a time.