Several weeks ago I was having breakfast in a crowded restaurant with two of my church members, who happen to be best friends of mine. Thursday men’s breakfast is a tradition that we’ve been doing for years. We’d just started eating when I looked at my friend Dave, who wasn’t breathing. I asked if he was OK. He shook his head no and stood up. Though not trained in the Heimlich maneuver, I started working on him anyway. I instructed someone to call 911 and asked if any doctors or nurses were in the restaurant. Nothing.
Ironically, I knew for sure that there was one nurse in the room, and he happened to be the one who was dying in my arms. Dave had recently retired as an ER nurse, just six weeks before our breakfast. I desperately continued to work on Dave, who towers over my 6 foot frame. He’s a big guy, and it took a lot of power to try to force the lodged food out of him. I was losing the battle, and I could feel Dave start to fade. He was slowly going down and I was getting exhausted. About sixty seconds had passed since I first noticed that he couldn’t breathe, and I was terrified that one of my very best friends would die in my arms that day. It would be several more minutes until the ambulance would arrive, and every second counted.
Just as Dave was going down, I looked up and our hostess, Hannah, was standing beside me. We never exchanged a single word, but we locked eyes for a second and I knew that she was offering to take over. I stepped aside and she began working on Dave. About ten seconds later, Dave took a deep breath. Hannah remained incredibly calm and offered Dave a glass of water. Hannah saved Dave’s life that day. She told us that she was a nurse’s assistant and was trained in CPR. Her training kicked in and she saved a life that day. It was the first time she ever performed the Heimlich. Dave told me later that the vast majority of people trained in the maneuver will never have to use it.
This morning the same three of us had breakfast at the same diner, where we were greeted by Hannah. We thanked her again for saving Dave a few weeks ago. She asked if we’d seen the local news report from about a week ago. We hadn’t. It turns out that another customer choked at the same restaurant and went into cardiac arrest. Hannah jumped into action once again and performed CPR on the woman until the paramedics showed up to take over. The paramedics were able to revive the woman, thanks to Hannah keeping her heart pumping until the ambulance showed up. Here is the local news story, where Hannah’s rescue of Dave was caught on camera.
We were blown away to find out that the same person who saved my friend Dave saved another choking victim just weeks later!
Hannah truly is a hero, and a humble one too. Good training, professionalism, and a willingness to step in when needed is what saved two lives by the same person, just a few weeks apart. I routinely train churches, police departments, schools, and the military to safeguard against child sexual abuse. But I wasn’t trained in the Heimlich maneuver and it could have easily cost my friend’s life. It’s a harsh reminder that training, and not just good intentions, is what saves people.
Within two weeks after Hannah saved Dave, I became CPR certified. We should never delay training, even if we think we will never need it. Words can’t express how thankful we all are for Hannah, who quietly saved two lives. I thank God that someone with proper training was in the restaurant that day to do what nobody else in the room was trained to do. Heroes really don’t wear capes.
Photo by Esteban Lopez on Unsplash