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Loyola Cafeteria Cashier Saves ER Doctor With Heimlich, Honored at Hospital

The cashier, Keztly Angel, credited a high school health lesson for the quick response.

Overview

  • Dr. Joan Dimopoulos began choking on a chicken sandwich in the Loyola University Medical Center cafeteria in Maywood, Illinois, and Keztly Angel performed the Heimlich maneuver to clear the obstruction.
  • Loyola held a recognition ceremony on Monday where Dimopoulos presented Angel with flowers and expressed her gratitude for the lifesaving help.
  • Hospital officials said the episode occurred during the physician’s lunch break as she tried to drink water in the checkout line and realized the food was lodged in her throat.
  • Angel said it was her first time using the technique she learned at Proviso East High School, and she had just celebrated her one-year anniversary working in the cafeteria.
  • Dimopoulos urged the public to learn basic choking response, emphasizing that quick bystander action can save lives.