by Cindy Walker Burton

It was the evening of April 14th. I’d just arrived home from a Holy Week church revival in Fairfax. I was full of the Holy Spirit, but my tummy wasn’t full. I’d decided to hold off on dinner until after church. It was an unusually cool, very windy evening, and soup sounded like the perfect menu item. Being a dedicated vegetarian, I warmed up a can of chick pea noodle soup. The first few bites were delicious and satisfying as I sat in my favorite lounging chair in the living room. When I took the last bite, I must have not chewed thoroughly or I actually inhaled a whole chick pea. The chick pea immediately blocked my airway, and I launched into a standing position trying to breathe while clutching my throat. But to no avail. I was gasping crazily for air and I remember two things flashed across my frenzied mind: “God help me” and “I’m not gonna die like this.”

Wheezing for air with tears streaming down my cheeks, I ran to a chair in my kitchen. I bent over the chair, quickly placed my right fist above my navel and my left fist over my right and pressed hard inward and upward multiple times (abdominal thrusts) gradually and gratefully expelling the chick pea. This happened in seconds. I coughed, cried, and gagged but I could breathe again. I thanked God profusely. I had saved my own life by self administering the Heimlich maneuver.

Fifty-five hundred people die annually from choking incidents. Don’t be a statistic. This article serves as a serious, life saving warning to every person out there living the solo lifestyle: know how to self administer the Heimlich maneuver! I learned the method decades ago, never dreaming it would save my life. But on April 14, 2025, it most certainly did. I fervently want you to be able to save yourself in a choking emergency. Just google “self administer Heimlich” for lifesaving instructions. It’s that simple. There’s an old saying, “forewarned is forearmed.” Arm yourself with a proven weapon to prevent choking to death: knowledge.

Choking is no joke. It could kill you. Educate yourself. Save your life.