Good Samaritan saves 100-year-old woman with Heimlich maneuver

By Kristen Consillio

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    HONOLULU (KITV) — Ryan Roberts, a ceramics teacher at Iolani School, was driving home Tuesday evening with his sons when he noticed something was wrong.

“What is this lady doing in the middle of the road? She’s going to get hurt,” he said. “As we passed her, the side mirror I was watching her, I was like, ‘the lady is hurt.'”

Emergency responders say the woman was choking on a cough drop while riding in a car with her daughter who pulled over on the highway. That’s when Roberts jumped in to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

“Got her out of the car, she was in the door jam and I got my arms kind of around her and just started giving it to her,” Roberts said.

What made it even more remarkable — the woman’s age.

It was at this intersection at Waokanaka Street and Pali Highway that Ryan Roberts was at the right place at the right time — saving the life a 100-year-old woman.

Other Good Samaritans stopped to help, including health care workers, before first responders arrived.

But it was that spilt-second decision that made the difference.

“You never, never know when you’re going to need that skill,” said Dr. Jim Ireland, director of the Honolulu Emergency Services Department. “Four to six minutes you start getting brain damage and the heart will stop.”

Roberts is still blown away by the ordeal and the timing — just two weeks ago he was trained in CPR and first aid.

“I hope she’s OK. Yeah, I just hope she’s OK,” he said. “It was really cool for my boys to see that, it was neat. It was cool — proud dad moment. I think I just saved that lady.”

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