Woman saves husband from choking

Barbra Frost, an account manager at Apple Print Ltd in Faraday Road, Newbury, said husband Russell began choking on food at home and added: “It was very frightening. There was no noise or coughing - he just held his throat and was staring at me. He very quickly went from being pale to blue.”
Mrs Frost is a trained first aider of 20 years’ standing and attends an annual refresher course for her role as a coach for Rugbytots.
She instantly knew to administer five hard blows with the heel of her hand between her husband’s shoulder blades.
However, when this failed to dislodge the piece of meat she was forced to try an abdominal thrust - formally know as the Heimlich manoeuvre.
She said: “After three thrusts the food shot out of his mouth and he was able to breathe normally again. It was extremely scary and It was such a relief when the food dislodged as I was beginning to think I’d have to dial for an ambulance.”
The pair were both shaken by the incident last September and Mrs Frost said: “Luckily Russell made a full recovery but I dread to think what would have happened if I’d not known what to do.”
Her case is being highlighted in a campaign by St John Ambulance aimed at encouraging more people to learn basic first aid skills
Regional director for St John Ambulance, Mark Farmer, said: “In situations where first aid could help save a life we don’t have to feel helpless, because learning life saving skills is so simple.
“That’s why it’s so concerning that in the south east fewer than one in five of us knows even basic first aid. This has got to change if we are to stop up to 140,000 lives from being needlessly lost each year.”
The charity has made a campaign film available to watch online at www.sja.org.uk/helpless
It is also urging everyone to get a free, pocket-sized guide featuring first aid skills that can help in five common life-threatening situations by texting HELP to 80039.