Jonathan Staffeldt was having dinner with his family when the unthinkable happened. While he was chewing, a cluster of chicken and cauliflower became lodged in Jonathan's throat. He couldn't breathe, he began to use his hands to signal to his throat, and then threw his hands in the air.
It just so happened that Los Angeles County deputies Arnulfo Aguirre and Vladimir Vasquez were having dinner during their break at the very same restaurant. When Aguirre saw the man's hands in the air and heard the gasping, he ran over and knew exactly what to do.
“I’m thinking this could be it for me,” Johnathan recalled to CBS. “I realized I couldn’t breathe at all… Couldn’t breathe at all, no air.”
“He had his hands up, his face was almost turning pale. Before I knew it, I was right behind him,” Aguirre said. He quickly began to do the Heimlich maneuver. “I ended up putting my hands together and pushing in towards the esophagus as hard as I was able to,” he added.
After a few thrusts, Johnathan was able to swallow the food in his throat. Finally, he could breathe. The man now feels he owes his life to the officers who saved him.
“Right after they saved my life, I gave them both a big hug,” he said. “There’s no other way to describe it. They’re heroes.”
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