When we swallow, the muscles in the lower throat contract, pushing food into the food pipe, and away from the airway. ‘A lot of this is preventable - if you know what to do you might not need to call an ambulance,’ says Dr Thomas. The London Ambulance Service alone receives an average of five calls a day related to choking - with nearly 2,000 people a year in London calling an ambulance because of a choking incident. ‘But we don’t know fully how many people have choking episodes and don’t die,’ she adds. He grabbed Chris, lifted him off the floor - despite Chris being twice his size - and started the Heimlich manoeuvre, giving three large shoves under his breastbone,’ says Rachel'Īt least one child a month dies from choking in the UK, according to Dr Lynn Thomas, medical director at first aiders St John Ambulance - in 2019, there were 351 fatalities, among both children and adults, caused by choking. ‘Someone moved me out of the way and stepped in,’ she says. ‘I sat there stunned, unable to eat, tears down my face,’ says Rachel.

The waiter - who they later learned was called Jorge Perez Maestre - then simply patted agricultural engineer Chris on the back, asked if he was OK, and resumed his duties.

‘He suddenly let out a huge gasp and breathed,’ she recalls. Something immediately flew from Chris’s mouth across the table. He grabbed Chris, lifted him off the floor - despite Chris being twice his size - and started the Heimlich manoeuvre, giving three large shoves under his breastbone,’ says Rachel. Suddenly, from nowhere, Rachel felt a hand on her shoulder. The couple’s teenage sons, Dean and Ben, ‘were sitting there stunned, too - they were witnessing their father fighting for his life’. She readily admits that, while she can keep a calm head in a crisis with patients, it was another matter when it was her own husband, looking at her terrified. ‘By now Chris was heaving, his eyes were bulging and his face was red, while his breathing changed to more of a squeak,’ says Rachel, 42. Chris, 47, was tucking into a plate of barbecue ribsīut it did no good. The family had opted for an all-inclusive stay in October and were just sitting down with their lunch from the hotel buffet.

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