That time the Heimlich maneuver saved her son
Laura Rupp learned a lot from reading and watching health-related TV shows, which further fueled her interest in nursing.
“Before all the reality shows came along, I loved to watch the re-enactment shows like ‘Rescue 911’ with William Shatner.
“One episode was on the Heimlich maneuver. I had a 10-year-old son at the time, and I had made some brisket that he was eating before going to school for a competition or something. I was sitting on the couch watching one of those shows when he came walking out of the kitchen. He came over to me, and he was purple. I mean, really purple. I went crazy. I asked him what was wrong, but he couldn’t speak and his hands were at his neck. I realized he must be choking on a piece of meat. So I started trying to do the Heimlich maneuver.
“From watching one of those shows, I remembered you were supposed to clasp your hands together, put them around the abdomen and then push in and up all in one quick motion. I kept doing that but it wasn’t working, and he kept getting more and more purple. So I called 911, and luckily the fire department was just down the street. While they were coming, I continued to work on my son and, finally, I must have dislodged it a little bit because he started getting some color back in his face.
“To this day I don’t know exactly what the fire department guys did because I was so hysterical. I went in the kitchen. I couldn’t even look. I guess they got a pair of big hemostats or something and reached in there and pulled it out. The guy said I did an OK job, but I didn’t do it good enough. So he showed me how to do it.
“My son is 31 now and he’s a very healthy eater. He eats salads, fruits, nuts, grains and all that kind of stuff. He never really did like meat. But now when he gets something to eat, he will sit there and chew it until it doesn’t even really need to be swallowed. He almost chews it until it dissolves.
“To this day, I think that incident when he was young affects him. It affects me. When we go out to eat, if someone ever makes a face while we’re eating, they better watch out. Don’t make any kind of panic-looking face at all. I don’t care where I am. I’m going to yell, and I’m loud.”
— Laura Rupp
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