Have you ever personally "saved" someone from dying?

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LindaL

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What happened the other day at a restaurant got me thinking and I thought I would ask...Have you ever personally saved someone from dying? What were the circumstances? Let's hear your stories....

My wife Deb will not toot her own horn and is being extremely humble about this, but I am so dang proud of her for her "heroism" I am just bursting! She is an OR nurse, so she takes "saving" people at stride..."part of her job" kind of thing...But, doing something out in public is not something you do normally...and many people really have no clue on what to do really or don't want to get involved and just stand by and watch...

We were at a restaurant just finishing our dinner and getting ready to leave when all of a sudden, we heard a huge crash (dish hitting the floor) and turned around to see an older gentleman twitching in his chair like he was seizing. Deb got up to see if he was OK (and others were there too, so I could not really see what happened after this, so I hadn't realized what Deb did until after we left). Apparently, she asked if he could hear her and if so, nod his head which he did. Then she asked of he was choking and he nodded...so she did the Heimlich maneuver on him! The person who was with him had wanted to stand him up and Deb (who doesnt normally announce the fact that she is a nurse but knew in this case it was best) said, No, I am a nurse, please listen to me and keep him seated. She was afraid he would fall and hurt himself or lodge the piece of food further down, She was able to save him by doing the Heimlich! After she felt like he was OK, she very quietly came back to the table and we walked away. First we stopped off at the restroom and as we walked to the cashier to pay for our dinner, the cashier says "We have been looking for you...Let me take this for you" (meaning, they paid for our meal!) Again, I hadn't realized just Deb had done at this point, so I was all calm and thought..."that was nice of them". As we left the restaurant, EMS pulled up (someone called them while Deb was helping). It was then that Deb told me what she did...and I about burst out crying and said "You are a hero! You saved that man's life!"

I am a huge believer in things happen the way they are supposed to...and this is a perfect example. Originally Deb was not even going to be with me...We had a transporter coming from TX with our new gelding and the original ETA was around 3-4, which meant Deb was still going to be at work. But, the transporter got a flat and they had to wait til the tire store found the right tire for their trailer and it took hours...which meant Deb could go with me. We got to the meeting point early and decided to eat at the restaurant that was near there, so this was not a planned place to eat. We were at the right place at the right time...Deb was meant to be there!
 
It's possible for me: July 2011 my Mom and Brother came in for the holiday to spend some time with me. We needed some stuff at the grocery store, so headed off to Albertson's. I RARELY go there, I much prefer Walmart. We drove into the parking lot, and I looked down at the sideway running along the side of the store, and there is a young lady lying facedown there! I had my brother drop me at the door and I ran in and snagged the first employee I saw, a young man getting carts. We both ran back to the girl (she was an employee, too) and checked her out. She started to come to as we were there and I helped her onto the bench there. He then ran for a manager. She didn't remember much, went out for her break and passed out. It was well over 100º that day. Once the manager got there, I left, so I don't know what happened after that. She could have easily gotten heat stroke lying there, as she wasn't easily seen unless you looked over the hill!
 
Well done, Deb! It was that man's lucky day that she was there. I agree, things happen they way they need to.

Here's my story;

I raised a special needs daughter so there were several times when she needed help fast. One situation in particular comes to mind when she was about 7 years old. We had stopped for donuts at a 'Tim Hortons' in town and had gotten her her favourite type, a honey glazed ( a bread type rather than a cake donut) She was at that age where she was loosing baby teeth and had a couple of loose ones that bled when they got wiggled to much and always had an issue with muscle tone in her mouth/lips so drooled frequently. Anyway she was so excited to have the special treat of a donut that she took to large a bite and after chewing it for only long enough to make it slippery she tried to swallow it. Of course it closed her throat off and she promptly began to choke. I have had first aid training and worked at one point as an industrial first aid attendant so I don't really panic easily (plus I'd already had 7 years of practice with the things she could come up with lol) so I pulled her out away from the table and began doing a finger sweep to try to dislodge the mass. In the process I banged her teeth cause them to bleed. So there I was in the middle of a donut shop with a limp child who had blood and drool running down her chin and in that packed place only 1 person rose from their seat and approached. He asked me "Is she alright" I will forever regret my response to him which was a blunt "No! Does she look alright?" He stepped back and went back to his table at that point. I should have thanked him for his concern, no one else did more than pause in their conversations, my only excuse was being distracted by concern for my daughter. Anyway, I ended up doing belly thrusts (the Heimlich) to dislodge the donut and she was fine in the end. Mad that I would not let her finish her donut lol. I never knew when I trained in first aid that my own child would require those skills so often but I'm glad I knew what to do when she needed it.
 
I absolutely believe we end up crossing paths at very specific moments for a reason. The truth is, we may all have more of an impact on people than we realize, whether it is being the first at the scene of an accident or simply giving a call to a friend going through some tough times, we just don't know what kind of positive impact we may have on someone's life (or negative for that fact). I have had a few opportunities to make an impact, from running to pull aspirin off a shelf at a local Walmart to give to someone having collapsed with intense chest pain, after confirming with his fiancé that he had no aspirin allergies, administering them and waiting for EMTs ( no one else did anything, they just watched, haven't they seen the commercials on heart attacks and taking aspirin ? ) or being the first at a scene when a tree snapped and hit a motorcyclist going by. Don't know if talking to him to keep him concious, holding a wet blanket between him and his burning bike (just some flames a few feet away, no exploding)or giving 911 a very detailed location of the accident made a difference, but it is what I would hope someone would do for me, pay it forward
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The motorcycle accident really haunts me, glad my husband sold his Harley.
 
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I had to give Keith the Heimlich a few months ago -- he does know how to "self-Heimlich," so I can't necessarily say I saved his life.

He, however, has saved my life several times. As a Type I diabetic, in recent years I've gone from never having problems and always being able to feel my blood sugar levels (in addition to testing) to having low blood sugar episodes that are more frequent and more difficult to detect. Several times he has saved me from slipping into a coma when I was too far gone to help myself.
 
Linda, I don't believe in coincidences, so I do think Deb was supposed to be there.

In answer to your question, I'm not sure if I saved his life, but there were two different times where my dad's blood sugar went whacky. He was a Type 2 Diabetic. It was many years ago and I can't remember how I "knew" what to do at the time. At one point I gave him some orange juice......and the second time I gave him his insulin in his thigh.

Back then, I was checking in on him daily and had educated myself a bit on the subject, but I'm afraid I've forgotten a lot of what I learned. But I do believe I was supposed to be there for him for each of those times........
 
WOW, that is awesome that Deb was there to help that man, and enjoyed reading everyone elses stories too. I also have some to tell. Too many really! LOL!

I had forgotten all about this one, until I read Field of Dreams post. I was just a VERY young child...maybe 8 years or so?? I was on my way home from school for lunch, and when I went past the next door neighbor's house, I found her dentures laying outside at their driveway. Being a little kid, not thinking anymore of it than simply her losing her teeth, I went with them to her door to give them to her. When she opened the door, she had a black eye or a very bruised face (I cannot remember for sure which), but it scared me and I ran home crying and scared. I told my Mom and she went over there and Mrs. Drew was still disoriented. She was taken to the hospital and it was discovered that she had had a seizure. So even though I never saved her life, my Mom and Mrs. Drew both told me if not for me, things may have been much worse.

Next story was about 18 years ago or so. I was working in a small, local store about 8 miles up the road.from where we live. It is a VERY small, non-populated community where everyone knows everyone else. A local gal about my age at the time, had come in with her little boy. I don't even remember his age but I am thinking probably about 4 years or so. No one else was in the store but us 3. All of a sudden the Mom started screaming, "Oh my God, he's choking...do something!". She was very scared and nearly crying. I have never done a first aid course or anything, so didn't know proper protocol, but all I could think of was the Hymlec Manouver. I did that and the wad of gum that he had choked on came flying out. She was so happy that she started giving him heck right away for putting such a big chunk of gum in his mouth all at once, took it away from him and threw it away and told him to quit running with stuff in his mouth. After I got back in behind the till counter, the realization of what I had just done just kind of hit me and I started crying,,,such a wave of emotion swept over me, and I started to shed some tears.

My next story happened about 11 years ago when our second grandson was born. We had our oldest grandson with us, who was about 3 at the time, and we stopped at Pizza Hut after we had left the hospital from seeing the new baby. After our meal, they left us out bill and a candy mint for each of us. Our little grandson wanted one, and I said no, as I always feel that it's a choking hazard for little kids to eat hard candy. But no, I was the "odd man out" and was basically told I was too protective, so they let him eat it. Well he started choking on it rather quickly. I ran him to the bathroom and started pounding on his back while he was draped over my other arm. The candy went shooting out across the floor of the bathroom and he started crying. My sister was apparently in the other stall and came flying out to find out what was going on. All she heard was someone come flying into the bathroom, and the candy hitting the ceramic tile and making such a loud noise, and then Junior crying. Got back to the table and they also heard the candy hitting the floor! LOL!

OK, in this, my last story here, the tables were turned. It was ME that choked, and Chris saved my life! We were having supper and I choked on some meat that I did not chew well enough. I have a bad habit of that happening actually, but normally I can cough it back up when it gets lodged in my throat...not this time though! I even (like an idiot!) tried swallowing another small piece, with hopes it would push it down, but it didn't. I had a drink of water and it wouldn't go down, and actually came back up through my mouth and nose. That is when I knew I was in big, serious trouble. I was seriously scared that I was going to die. I looked at Chris and even though I couldn;t really talk, I did get "do me" out in a light raspy voice and pointed over my shoulder at my back. He started pounding and I said "hymlec", again in a raspy sound. Once he did that, it did dislodge. It never came flying out like in the movies, but it did get it up into my mouth. I cleaned up my mess from all over the dinner table. I looked over at Chris to thank him, and he was teary-eyed, so it had obviously affected him the same way as it had me when I helped that little boy. I think it is like a feeling of relief that comes over you, thankful that it turned out the way it did. When I retold my story to different people, telling them I would have seriously been dead if not for Chris, or id I had been alone when it happened, and they all told me you can throw yourself into the back of a chair or against a wall in an effort to dislodge it. I had never known this, so for anyone like me, that may not know, keep it in mind in case you ever need it in the future!
 
All these stories are just amazing and i am loving reading them! I am glad that you all were there to help those who needed it...and that you had someone there to help save YOU when needed!

As far as choking (and like Mona), I am always "choking" on food...but always able to cough to clear it...but it always scares me that one day I will be alone and choke for real (no airway) and not be able to do anything! My ex-husband used to "yell" at me to chew my food! lol And...a funny little memory that is an "inside" joke in my family is...whenever anyone was choking/coughing, we would say "Arms up!" LOL Not sure why that would help, but we always say it anyway!
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Actually, we do the arms up thing too. I'm pretty sure it is meant to be one arm or the other but we can never remember which so we do both lol. As I understand it raising your arms helps to shift your anatomy in such a way that you make the straightest line from mouth to stomach and open the throat to its widest capacity so sometimes that tiny extra will be enough to help the object move up or down (usually down it seems) I don't know if it really works but we always try it anyway.
 
Wow! great stories. It reaminds me of the verse Romans 8:28, "For all thing work together for good for those who love God, for those who are called according to His purpose." Deb wasn't supposed to be there, but she was and saved that mans life--And Filed-Of-Dreams, you usually go to walmart but you went to Albertson's for a reason. All of the stories were good and lives were saved =)
 

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