On May 30th, 2024 an 80-year-old woman choked on steak at Free House Restaurant resulting in a partial obstruction. Protocol was followed but was unsuccessful. LifeVac removed the obstruction on its first use! A good samaritan who saved this woman describes the incident as follows:
“My husband and I were heading out for dinner that evening, frankly, I really wasn’t wanting to go, but I had finally given in. On the way to the restaurant, we had been discussing the LifeVac that I had purchased 4 months prior. I was telling him about trying to get our neighbor to pick one up because of her grandchildren, and also, I told him that I wanted to attend a CPR class. Anyways, once at the restaurant, we were settled at our table, when my husband said oh my god, it appears like a lady is choking across the room… At that point, I turned and saw it was an older lady in her eighties. Being concerned I immediately ran towards the group attempting to assist the lady who was choking. My husband was suggesting I come back given the number of people surrounding the elderly lady. But I remembered the LifeVac (I recently purchased) was in our car. Also, at that time the video of the guy saving the baby was running through my mind. When I got across the room there was a man trying to do the Heimlich Maneuver behind the lady with no success. Partly, I believe he was concerned about hurting her due to her being so frail. With her son holding her from the front, comforting her – I told him I have a LifeVac in my car. I asked if we should get it? All involved, yelled yes! So I turned to my husband and yelled across the room of about 150 people +/- that I had the Life Vac in the car, he immediately ran to the car which was way down a hill. One of the gentlemen in the group followed. My husband got it from the car and handed it to the gentleman who had followed him, at which time it was brought back through the quickest entrance. Luckily the woman could breathe a little, but she had been choking for 3 to 4 minutes with very little air and was in great discomfort. Once back, the gentlemen handed me the LifeVac, I ripped the package open and told the son to lift her neck back and place the mouthpiece on her mouth, and pull the handle. I kept saying it would work, and it wouldn’t hurt her. When he pulled on the Life Vac the first time the piece of steak came out. By this time the local ambulance team had arrived. The lady was still in discomfort but could breathe thoroughly. They took over her care from there and I stepped back out of the picture. Before this, I’d never stepped out of the crowd to help someone, but I deeply believed the LifeVac would help her, thus the reason I pushed forward…. Since this occurrence, I’ve been sharing my story with all my friends. Life is very short, but in one moment with LifeVac – one person can change the life of another person.”
JN
