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.