I was on a fishing trip with three friends and we were having a few beers in the restaurant together. One of my friends Geoff 74 years young suddenly stood up at the table, his face was really red and it looked like his eyes were popping from the socket! I said 'are you ok Geoff?' he shook his head violently and was hitting the table. It was clear he was choking, he couldn't speak and was clearly distressed. I told him I was probably going to hurt him but needed to get whatever was stuck in his throat out. I gave him 3 or 4 really hard back slaps but that didn't work, I then carried out the abdominal thrusts and after around 4 thrusts the blockage was cleared. It was a golf ball sized lump of liver, bacon and onion that had somehow lodged in his throat. he was then sick and in a bit of distress but I took him to the gents to ensure he was ok. The restaurant was really busy, no staff seemed to cotton on to what was happening and no one else took action. I forgot about calling or asking someone to dial for emergency services in the heat of the moment. When we returned to the table I got a round of applause which seemed weird at the time as I did feel I acted the way I did as I'd just done the First Aid course a short time before. I was buzzing with emotion. I stayed up for the next few hours with Geoff to make sure all was well. I did remember to tell him he should go to A&E to get checked over but being a typical man he said he'd be ok. He is still alive and spritely and still fishing to this day.
I was really glad I'd had the training FOS had provided as I may well have been a useless bystander had I not. I would have called an ambulance though!!
