The One Where I Almost Choked To Death
This is me….celebrating my birthday and Christmas many years ago. I’m a Christmas baby. Earlier today, my older brother would say to me “wouldn’t it be weird if you died on the day you were born?” He had a reason for saying this to me.
Let me go back a few hours….to around 1:30 when we sat down to Christmas dinner. I was sitting at the “adult” table with my sister, her husband, my younger brother, his wife and my step father. Dinner is served….everyone is digging in…and the conversation is flowing. I can’t tell you what we were discussing because a few bites into my meal I suddenly was having a bit of difficulty….my brother asked if I was alright, and I actually felt like everything was going to be alright so I nodded my head. He asked me several more times if I was alright….I wasn’t so convinced by this time so I asked (or did I motion) for my sister-in-law to pat me on my back. It wasn’t helping so I thought I needed a drink to help. That actually was the worst thing I could have done because suddenly air was becoming an issue….and the lights were beginning to dim. I vaguely recall standing up and stumbling as I thought “I can’t breathe and I can’t tell them” when suddenly my brother-in-law was grabbing me from behind and performing the Heimlich maneuver on me. It worked almost immediately and I was soon breathing again, not normally but better than before.
Can I say….the scariest moment of my life was those few minutes (seconds?) when I realized I couldn’t breathe. I was literally choking to death and to experience it first hand….incredibly frightening. How my brother-in-law…who was sitting across from me ~ made it around the table in the blink of an eye to grab me is beyond amazing. I’m so very, very grateful he had the moves to do so…and that he knew the Heimlich maneuver….and that he saved me. So very grateful……and I told him later…..Hands Down ~ Best Present of the Day!
5 Comments
Stephanie @ thevamptramp.com
I start to panic when I feel trapped by my sheets and blankets so I can’t even begin to imagine how much worse it would feel to (almost) choke to death. I’m so glad you’re okay! I hope the rest of your holiday went wonderfully. I hope you were able to enjoy the rest of your dinner. Merry Christmas. 🙂
Magikal Folk
It was surreal as it was happening….I’m thinking this can’t be happening on my birthday, this can’t be happening on Christmas…and I couldn’t even tell anyone how bad it was!! The rest of the day went wonderfully….and I was a little freaked out to eat anything but I managed a small plate later on.
Penny
Had that situation one time when I was a teenager. I had been sitting in my room watching tv and eating tortilla chips. I moved or the chips moved and I began to choke. I vividly remember bright lights twinkling before my eyes and getting tired. I stumbled into the room my dad was sitting in. He turned around, looked at me and said, “What do you need? I’m busy.” Guess that was enough to make the invisible man save my life because my father wasn’t about to move away from his computer to do so. I didn’t eat chips of any kind for more than a year after that.
Glad you had a hero to keep you here with us :).
Magikal Folk
I’m so very glad I had a hero as well Penny! I kept thinking it would pass and it just kept getting worse and worse. I wish I could remember what exactly it was I had put in my mouth that caused me to choke…not a clue really and I had just started to eat.
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