Customer shouted 'I'm dying', waiter saved his life with the Heimlich maneuver

While eating meat chunks at the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Social Recreation Facilities located in the Kardeşler neighborhood of Antakya, Sabahattin Özalan suddenly had difficulty breathing, drawing the attention of those around him. Realizing that the situation was a complete airway obstruction, waiter Burhan Temir prepared to intervene within seconds and applied the Heimlich maneuver.

HEIMLICH INTERVENTION FROM THE WAITER

Burhan Temir, who had participated in the first aid training provided by the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality and learned the Heimlich maneuver there, enabled the customer to breathe again with the maneuver he applied. Temir made the following statements in his explanation after the incident:

"We are at the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality Social Recreation Facilities. While one of our guests was eating, food got stuck in his throat and he experienced a complete obstruction. When I saw that the guest was experiencing a complete obstruction, I had to perform an emergency intervention. Because of the first aid training provided by the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality, I knew the Heimlich maneuver. I saved the guest by applying the Heimlich maneuver. I never thought I would use this Heimlich maneuver. The information from the training came to my mind and I immediately saved the guest who was experiencing a complete obstruction. The Heimlich maneuver is very important and everyone needs to receive this training. I thank the Hatay Metropolitan Municipality for this training. I am glad that the guest was saved"

Sabahattin Özalan, who described the panic and feeling of suffocation he experienced as a "moment of death," recounted the event as follows:

"I had ordered meat chunks. While I was eating, the food in my mouth got stuck in my throat while I was talking to the waiter to ask for ayran. There was no water on the table, so I ran to the sink to drink water. When I drank water, I got worse and could not breathe at all. While I was shouting 'I'm dying' to the staff, the waiter got behind me and applied the Heimlich maneuver, and I started to breathe. I held onto life with the Heimlich maneuver. At that moment, I saw death; I felt like I was drowning in the sea. I thank the waiter very much. He arrived like a savior and saved me. The Heimlich maneuver is very important, and if no one had known it, I would have died. One member of every family should know the Heimlich maneuver"

News Source: İHA