EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — East Brunswick could become the test site for a choking-prevention program, an idea that grew out of Mayor Brad Cohen's own choking scare earlier this month.
Cohen shared the plan as the Township Council honored Robert Hughes, the resident who came to his aid during a choking emergency on Oct. 6.
Cohen said that after the incident, he got a letter from a Manalapan woman whose 38-year-old son had died after choking about two months earlier. No one around her son knew how to help, Cohen said. He suffered anoxia, a loss of oxygen to the brain, and died a week later.
She now wants to start a foundation in her son's name and use East Brunswick as a pilot site, Cohen said. The goals would be to:
"It doesn't make up for the loss of her son, but it in some way gives her some sense of purpose by being able to do something that helps others," Cohen said.
Cohen asked residents interested in serving on a committee to help bring the program to town to reach out.
"Be more than happy to hear from anybody and try to get that going," he said.
Cohen said the effort started with a social media post he almost didn't make.
He wrote about the choking incident that evening while at a game with his son. He said he wasn't sure he'd post it at all, because it was embarrassing. Within minutes, a local dentist replied that mozzarella cheese is the third most common cause of choking, after hot dogs and grapes.
"As I'm eating my hot dog at the game," Cohen said. "So I figured I probably should just go up and get grapes and finish the trifecta."
The letter from the Manalapan mother came within a day.
"The silly little thing of just writing down this incident and maybe just forgetting about it, versus actually talking about it, may in the end have helped save someone else's life," Cohen said.
Cohen choked on pizza during lunch on Oct. 6 at an East Brunswick restaurant, Patch reported at the time. He had had a root canal that morning and believed the anesthesia hadn't fully worn off.
The first bite got stuck in his throat. He couldn't swallow it, wash it down with water or cough it up, so he stood and signaled that he was choking.
Robert and Tanya Hughes, friends who were eating two tables away, ran over. Robert performed the Heimlich maneuver, and Cohen said a single push dislodged the food.
In his social media post afterward, Cohen said he wanted to show that choking can happen to anyone, not just babies, older adults or people on medication, and to encourage residents to learn how to respond.
During Monday's meeting, council passed a resolution honoring Hughes, a lifelong East Brunswick resident and U.S. Coast Guard veteran, and his wife, Tanya.
According to the resolution, read by Councilman Kevin McEvoy, Hughes responded to the Oct. 6 emergency by "taking lifesaving action." The resolution notes that Hughes has kept his CPR certification current for many years. It calls his actions "an example of courage, preparedness, and service to others."
The resolution also recognizes Tanya Hughes for the couple's shared place in the community and "the importance of family support and partnership."
Hughes kept his remarks short.
"Just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate the recognition, and I also want to appreciate and thank all the first responders who do this on a daily basis, without always the same recognition," he said.
Council President Dana Zimbicki thanked him for being a role model, "certainly for your beautiful daughters, but for everybody in our community."
"I know you're a very humble person, and it does take a lot to step up and to help somebody in need," she said. "We're just very thankful you were there."
Cohen thanked Hughes for helping him "in a really bad place."
"Clearly I'm thankful that you were in the right place at the right time," he said. "It's unusual for me to be in that position because I'm usually the opposite end, the one trying to help other people."
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