Friend's Quick Action Saves East Brunswick Mayor From Choking At Lunch

EAST BRUNSWICK, NJ — I'm lucky, really lucky." That's how East Brunswick Mayor Brad Cohen describes what happened Tuesday, when a bite of pizza got stuck in his throat at lunch and a friend nearby used the Heimlich maneuver to clear it.

Cohen said he had a root canal that morning and waited a little longer than the hour his doctor advised before eating. He then went out for a slice of pizza.

"Literally the first bite went, and it just got lodged," Cohen told Patch. "I couldn't swallow it. I couldn't get water to bring it down. I couldn't cough it up."

He said he stood up and signaled that he was choking. Two tables down, his friends Tanya and Robert Hughes were eating lunch. On seeing Cohen’s signal they immediately ran towards him.

"He (Robert) just knew what to do, and literally with one little push, he was able to cause me to cough it up," Cohen said. "I'm lucky, really lucky."

Cohen decided to share what happened in a public Facebook post.

"Heroes can show up at the most unexpected times and I found one today," he wrote. He said he believes the anesthesia had not worn off completely. He thanked the Hugheses, writing that Robert’s Heimlich maneuver "worked like a charm."

Cohen told patch that he decided to share his experience for three reasons, even though he felt a little embarrassed. The first was to give credit to the people who helped him. The second was to show how common choking is.

"It's not just only babies or the elderly or people that are on medicines," he said. "It could happen to anybody."

The third was to encourage people to learn how to respond.

"Any one of us could learn it, and hopefully never need to use it, but in the event that you are called upon, you know what you need to do in that circumstance, and maybe help save someone else's life," Cohen said.

The mayor said he was fortunate to be in a public place where someone knew what to do. Many people who choke at home have no one there to help, he said.

"You've got to take everything in life as an opportunity," Cohen said. "Maybe there's a reason that it happened this way. If the reason is that now I can use whatever forum I have to help others learn things that could save lives, then I'll do it."

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