A Life Saved, Pay No Mind

I had the most bizarre experience last night. I keep thinking about it and when I do it keeps striking me as surreal.

I was at a local restaurant eating with three of my four kids when I noticed a girl sitting at the next table choking. Her Mom had a panic-stricken look and just kept asking her 9 year old daughter if she could breathe. The kid stood there choking... obviously unable to respond.

So after about 10 seconds of this I jumped up and went over and asked the Mom if she needed help. She said, "Yes, help!"

So I did. I may not be remembering the timeline perfectly here, but it went something like this:

• I pried the kid's mouth open and stuck my finger down her throat, trying to sweep out whatever was in the way. I actually felt something in there. It would later turn out to be a piece of pineapple. 10 seconds.
• She gagged and I thought for a second she was going to gag up the blockage. She didn't. Another 5-10 seconds waiting to see if she'd start to breathe.
• I stuck my finger down her throat again, and felt the object again (just on the tip of my finger). This time I really tried to aggravate her throat to induce a more powerful gag response, which worked but failed to dislodge the blockage. 5 seconds.
• Slap her on the back hard to try to get her to gag up the blockage. No luck. 10 seconds. Mom is really freaking out at this point. I'm not sure what she's saying, but it's repetitive and hysterical.
• There is a crowd of waitresses starting to gather at this point.
• I picked the girl up and gave her a good Heimlich thrust (I've actually been trained and certified on this). 5 - 10 seconds.
• She still isn't breathing. Now my heart is pounding in my ears. I'm really scared this kid is going to die. In a bit of a panic I give her a hard Heimlich. Her chest pops pretty loudly.
• 5 more seconds pass and I put the girl back down on her feet, grab her face with one hand, forcing her mouth open. I then jam my finger in starting at the corner of the mouth so I can get my finger in there deeper. I stretch her cheek pretty violently getting my finger as far back into her throat as I can.
• I still can't pull out the blockage, but I do manage to shove it down further, inducing a huge gag and I feel the blockage slip down and away from my finger.
• I pull my finger out of her throat (covered in pineappled bile up to my wrist) and am rewarded with a shuddering, raspy, and giant gasp of breath.
• I sit down, numb and relieved and absently start to wipe my hand off.
• The kid collapses in her Mom's arms, crying... the waitresses disperse.

I went to the bathroom and washed my hands. I came back and a waitress (who witnessed the whole thing) brings me my check. I'm a little surprised by this. Not that I did it for a free dinner, but if I owned that joint I'd comp the dinner for the guy who just stopped a little girl from dying in my restaurant!

Mom says nothing to me. The waitresses say nothing. My kids are the only one who react at all. The little girl seemed to want to come over to me at one point, but her Mom pulls the child back to her. No one in the restaurant so much as looked at me as I walked out.

Like I said, I'm not asking for a parade or anything, but the fact that no one reacted at all was just strange. Very bizarre. Surreal is the word that just keeps coming to mind. You just saw a little girl come close to death and... nothing? That's some high drama and... nothing?

What does it say about us when we can witness something like that and not react?

My kids, understandably, wanted to talk about nothing else in the car. At least my two oldest wanted to talk about it. My four year old may not have been able to compute what went on. I do remember she had a bit of a slack-jawed look on her face when I sat back down at our table. She was chatting about Christmas as we drove moments later, so I guess she was okay with the whole thing.