While waiting in line with his children...

While waiting in line with his children to see Santa Claus, the last thing Will Richards expected to see at the Santa Catalina Island-wide Avalon Christmas party in the Casino Ballroom was a mother holding her child upside down.

Carolyn, the 3-year-old daughter of Ian and Terri Morison, was choking on one of the round, hard candies handed out by Santa Claus in a Christmas stocking.

Several people from the crowd of about 1,300 who attended the party last Sunday already had tried to save the child. One woman had performed the Heimlich maneuver, but Carolyn continuing to choke, became limp and was turning blue.

Then Richards stepped in.

A sculptor and father of four who stays home with his children every day, Richards said he “jumped in and did what I hope somebody would’ve done for my kids.”

Richards, 38, has no CPR training, but the situation “was kind of to the point where everybody was looking for someone to do something,” he said. “I just wanted to do something for this little kid.”

Placing Carolyn on the floor, Richards “dug down in her throat. . . . The candy was stuck way down in a little cavity where your sinuses come down. I could barely get it out.”

By the time paramedics arrived, the candy was out and Carolyn was breathing normally.

Richards said his reward has been getting lots of “nice comments” from Avalon residents, many of whom saw the incident. His children, ages 10 months to 14 years, witnessed their father’s heroism and learned a lesson from it, he said.

Hard round candy is “the worst think a kid could have,” Richards said. “When we got home we threw them all away, and everybody was happy to (do it).”