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A really good opener for this Q10 would be to tell you about this time I was choking and had my life saved by some wonderful person who knew how to do the Heimlich. Unfortunately, I have no such story.
The celebrities below do, though. Can you imagine how embarrassing the obituary would be? “Carrie Fisher, famous for her portrayal as the iconic Princess Leia in the Star Wars movies, passed away today after choking on a Brussels sprout that she was forced to eat because she was so stoned.”
Needless to say, thank God these people were saved. Here are their stories, as researched by the always-wonderful Meg McGinn.
1. Carrie Fisher. John Belushi set up and accompanied Carrie and Dan Aykroyd on a blind date, but passed out sometime during the evening. Carrie was apparently incredibly stoned, so stoned that Aykroyd forced her to eat, hoping it would help her come down a bit. Instead of Doritos, though, Carrie ate Brussels sprouts. And choked on one. Aykroyd gave her the Heimlich and then promptly proposed marriage.
2. If a choking incident could possibly be sexy, this was probably it (although I doubt it was): it involved a near-nude Halle Berry and Pierce Brosnan. When they were filming a sex scene in Die Another Day, Pierce made Halle laugh and she started choking on some fruit (a fig, according to IMDB). Pierce has said that he was thinking about giving her the Heimlich, but was a little concerned about wrapping his arms around her while they were both practically naked. Luckily, he didn’t have to make up his mind about the appropriateness of the situation – she coughed up the fig and they went on filming.
3. Who hasn’t tried to swallow a pill dry (or even just not swallowed it right) and gotten that big lump stick in your throat? Cher is proof that mundane things like that happen to celebrities, too. She was backstage at the rehearsal of a Broadway play when she starting choking on a vitamin. She apparently tried to dislodge it with some bread, but when that didn’t work, Robert Altman gave her the Heimlich.
4. Elizabeth Taylor. When Liz was married to Senator John W. Warner, the two of them were campaigning in Virginia when she got a chicken bone stuck in her throat. She was rushed to the Lonesome Pine Hospital in Big Stone Gap, Va., where it was safely removed. She later donated part of her pay as a guest star on General Hospital to the real hospital that she credited with saving her life.
5. Tom Brokaw, to the rescue! When news anchor John Chancellor sent a chunk of Gouda down the wrong pipe in 1979, it was lucky that Tom was there. The Heimlich Manuever was only a few years old at the time, and the new technique had recently been demoed on his show. “[Chancellor] turned very red and then very gray,” Brokaw said. So he performed the Heimlich and popped out the cheese, and Chancellor went on the air a few hours later as planned.
6. Ed Koch, the former mayor of NYC, was eating at a restaurant in Chinatown in 1981 when he choked on… something. “I choked on what we said was watercress,” he said six years after the incident. “There was a debate as to whether it was watercress or spare ribs. A vote was taken and the vote was watercress.” Apparently, his staff was concerned that spare ribs would be offensive to some of his constituents.
7. Could famous coach and broadcaster Dick Vitale have been felled by a mere piece of unmasticated melon? Yup, he could have, if off-duty fireman John King hadn’t been there. He was at Tropicana Field before a Devil Rays game in 2002, having dinner at their restaurant. “I was choking and turning colors,” Dickie V. said, when King came over “and gave me a bear hug. Beautiful guy, too.”
8. He’s not the only sports broadcaster to be threatened by food that took a wrong turn. In the 90s, former USC QB Pat Haden was on broadcasting duty at a Rams/Falcons game when he was viciously attacked by some broccoli. His new on-air partner, Verne Lundquist, performed the Heimlich on him. It didn’t look like anyone else was going to: “I’m not sure what I would have done if I hadn’t known anybody in the restaurant. Nobody was running to help.” Maybe the other restaurant patrons were UCLA fans.
9. In 2006, Page Six reported that Ellen Barkin was eating dinner at the Sunset Tower Hotel’s Tower Bar when she jumped up and screamed, “I’m going to die!” CAA agent Kevin Huvane gave her the Heimlich (what did people do before the Heimlich was invented?!) and popped out a piece of shrimp. Meanwhile, Sylvester Stallone just watched from a couple of tables away. Guess he only does the action-hero thing if he’s getting paid to do it, huh?
10. Long before John Hinckley, Jr., tried to assassinate Ronald Reagan, a peanut tried to do him in. He was on an airplane headed around the campaign trail and casually tossed a peanut and caught it in his mouth – unfortunately, just as the plane was taking off. The force of the takeoff pushed his head against the seat and I guess lodged the peanut in a bad spot. Aide Mike Deaver rushed to help the future President, performed the Heimlich Maneuver that Reagan had taught him, and “the wayward nut popped quietly off the bulkhead.” In typical Reagan fashion, he had a quip at the ready: “I’m sure glad I taught you that darn thing.”
Obviously, I’ve left off President Bush choking and passing out because of a pretzel, but I think we all know about that one.
Have you narrowly avoided death by food? Tell us about it in the comments.
Comments (48)
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John Belushi parodied the Elizabeth Taylor choking on SNL
posted by beth on 9-29-2008 at 2:54 pm
I somehow doubt Ellen Barkin was actually choking, since you can’t make any sound if something really has blocked your windpipe.
posted by Lindsey on 9-29-2008 at 2:56 pm
I wouldn’t say I narrowly avoided death but I couldn’t have dessert and had to sit at the table for an extra hour, when I was a kid my mom made beef stroganoff for dinner one night and I remember eating a piece of beef that I swear I chewed on for 30 min. my parents wouldn’t let me spit if out and I didn’t want to just swallow it and choke on it. Finally I was able to get it down and when I wouldn’t take another bite they made me sit there and finish the rest of my plate before leaving the table. After about 2 hours they got tired of me sitting there humming to keep my self awake and they sent me to bed. Even after all these years I have never and will never have beef stroganoff again. I know it is out to get me!
posted by Jennifer on 9-29-2008 at 3:00 pm
I once had to give the Heimlich to my boyfriend when he was choking on Runts (obviously an orange…)! Thank you 10th grade Health Class…
posted by Kristin on 9-29-2008 at 3:03 pm
Once in college a friend made some “magic” brownies and had baked caramels into them. They tasted great when they were warm but as soon as the caramel hit your mouth, it just turned into a hard, chewy mass that was impossible to swallow. I was getting ready to go spit it out when someone made a joke and as I was attempting not to spit it everywhere, I inhaled it. After much gagging and heimliching, it finally came up. Into my crush’s lap. Needless to say – no date.
recaptcha: midsummer Vassar
posted by anon e. mouse on 9-29-2008 at 3:10 pm
Not death per se but I once ended up being blind in my left eye for a day after a teacher mis-timed the lob of a tangerine.
posted by Scott on 9-29-2008 at 3:10 pm
Sitting in a pub eating French Onion Soup, I took a too-big bite of melted gooey cheese, which promptly lodged in my throat. I knew right away that I was in trouble. I made gacking noises, I clutched my throat with both hands (aka the international “I’m choking, please help me” gesture), but my friend thought I was joking. I still see her laughing face, blurring at the edges as I drifted towards unconsciousness. Realizing that no one was going to assist me, I reached my fingers down into my throat until I touched the lump of cheese, and started pulling it of my mouth with both hands, like a length of dental floss, while the O-mouthed diner across from me watched in disgust. Finally, the bulbous end popped out, I gasped for breath (delightful, cool, life-giving oxygen) and gave my friend hell for chortling while I died.
posted by Kikadee on 9-29-2008 at 3:18 pm
Bush and a pretzel???? I have obviously been living under a bridge because I did not hear that one… Anyone care to elaborate?
No near-death experiences per say but I do choke on some pills occasionally… It hurts a little but bread usually clears it right up.
posted by GTT on 9-29-2008 at 3:28 pm
I’m also calling “Foul” on the Ellen Barkin story. It would be physically impossible to yell “I’m gonna die!” while choking.
posted by Craig on 9-29-2008 at 3:42 pm
Once at summer camp when I was 9, we had “Jail Night” which was a bunch of different activities centered around jail (yeah, I have no idea). One was a race in which we had to quickly eat a piece of bread and drink a cup of water (because prisoners only eat bread and water), then run back and forth between two points.
Clearly this was a brilliant plan, as I tried to swallow the bread at the same time as I drank the water, which of course expanded the bread, making it lodge in my throat. They had to take me outside and Heimlich me. Fun times!
posted by Celeste M. on 9-29-2008 at 3:50 pm
I was at the movies, watching Juno, and laughed with popcorn in my mouth. I inhaled popcorn and couldn’t stop coughing and choking. Over the next 2 days I hacked away uncessantly and developed a fever and got really sick. Finally, on the second day I coughed really hard and 2 unpopped kernels flew out. I had inhaled 2 ‘old maids’ into my lung and developed the beginnings of pneumonia from it!
posted by QT314159265 on 9-29-2008 at 3:53 pm
When I was about 7, I choked on a peppermint. I turned bright red and my grandmother, not knowing the heimlich, turned me upside down and smacked me on the back a bunch of times.
posted by Michelle on 9-29-2008 at 4:03 pm
When I was about 4, my whole family was at a restaurant for a birthday dinner. Of course, we were seated in the middle of the restaurant. I ordered Fettuccine Alfredo, my favorite dish (even to this day). My mother cut up the noodles smaller so that my 4 year old self could eat it more easily. One apparently dodged her knife, because as I was eating, it slid down my throat, stopping before it hit my stomach. I started choking and my grandfather who was sitting right next to me, got up and gave me the Heimlich. The entire restaurant was silent as everyone wanted to know if the little girl survived. After my grandfather dislodged the wayward pasta, I promptly turned to my mother and said, “You didn’t cut it good enough!”
posted by Amy D on 9-29-2008 at 4:24 pm
Actually, you’re supposed to do five back blows before you try the Heimlich. It goes five back blows (right in the middle of the shoulder blades), 5 abdominal thrust (Heimlich) maneuvers, then 5 more back blows, etc, until either the obstruction is cleared or the person becomes unconscious. And if that happens you start CPR. That’s what they teach you at the Red Cross.
posted by bizet on 9-29-2008 at 4:36 pm
Actually I just got CPR and First Aid trained a few weeks ago and no one mentioned any back blows. Maybe they taught that a long time ago, but not now.
posted by Carolyn on 9-29-2008 at 6:09 pm
I took a CPR and First Aid Class on Saturday and that’s what we were taught.
posted by bizet on 9-29-2008 at 6:24 pm
My dad saved both me and my brother from choking on hard candy (watermelon flavored) with the Heimlich maneuver, within like two days of each other. I choked on it because I ate a piece after taking medicine and accidentally inhaled it…it was very slippery candy! My brother choked on it while we were at the mall. My parents threw the candy away after that.
posted by Rachel on 9-29-2008 at 7:01 pm
When I was four I apparently tried to swallow a marble, my aunt reached her really long finger nail down my throat to pull it out…
posted by Marble girl on 9-29-2008 at 7:05 pm
I got a chicken bone stuck in my throat while I was at work one time – I could not make a sound other than a weak cough. I was about to knock over a chair just to make some noise, but I was able to do a modified Heimlich on myself and pop it out.
Yelling “I’m going to die” is a great way for fading actress to get her name in the press.
posted by PartiallyDeflected on 9-29-2008 at 7:53 pm
The back blows thing is for kids but not adults.
posted by sweetietweetie on 9-29-2008 at 8:05 pm
my brother choked on a cremesaver once when we were at the airport waiting for our flight. my dad quickly performed the heimlich on him and the candy flew halfway across the terminal. my sister, our very own PA, covered her ears with her hands and closed her eyes. we still remind her of that to this day. :D
posted by kelly on 9-29-2008 at 9:40 pm
Back before the Heimlich maneuver was invented, my husband’s grandfather had to give a tracheotomy to somebody who was choking in a restaurant.
I think I’d prefer the Heimlich over having someone cut my throat open with his penknife…
posted by gibson8or on 9-29-2008 at 10:13 pm
The back blow thing is for kids AND adults.
posted by garynotjerry on 9-29-2008 at 10:32 pm
We used to have a gumball machine in our house and when I was around 7 I got an unchewed gumball stuck in my throat (it was blue—the gumball, not my throat). My mom didn’t know what to do so she turned me upside down and the gumball fell out. My sister then picked it up and chewed it.
posted by Reese on 9-29-2008 at 10:33 pm
When my daughter was 2 she choked on a peanut butter sandwhich. I had no clue. As I walked into the room she just sat there silently with her mouth open but not making any sound. Her arms were waving funny, but it took a second for me to clue in that she was choking.
I grabbed her around the stomach to get her in position for the Heimlich and the bread popped out from the pressure of picking her up. Scared me to death. She didn’t really seem to notice.
But just the other day I accidently inhaled two of the peas from inside a green bean. I knew I wasn’t choking because I could breathe, but I couldn’t stop coughing violently. It finally came up.
posted by karen on 9-30-2008 at 12:01 am
I was nearly done in by a cheeto! I was sitting in my cube at work and there was no one to help. I slammed my stomach into the edge of my desk and that helped pop it out. It was terrifying.
posted by Todd on 9-30-2008 at 6:42 am
The last time I took my CPR/First Aid refresher, we didn’t learn to hit the person in the back. But, they also didn’t call it the Heimlich manuever. The instructor said they just call it Abdominal Thrusts or somethng like that now.
Maybe our CPR/First Aid instructors need to collaborate if we’re all learning different things… heh.
posted by Heather on 9-30-2008 at 7:36 am
When I was about eight years old I was eating a larger jawbreaker (think size of golf ball.) Well, after eating it for a while I had reduced the thing in size enough so I popped it in my mouth and because it was the perfect size it somehow it became lodged in my throat. I was waving my arms at my dad trying to convey that I was choking because I couldn’t speak. At this point I was starting to panic. Luckily a few months earlier an older friend told me if I was ever choking to lean you stomach over a chair. So, I hurled myself at a dining room chair and out popped the jawbreaker. Scary stuff!
posted by nihil on 9-30-2008 at 8:00 am
When I was a kid my family and I were all out to dinner and I was eating a mozzarella stick. It was hot which made me gasp which in turn caused it to lodge in my throat. My mom had me up in her arms and did an abdominal thrust so fast that the cheesestick was on the floor before I even realized I was choking!
posted by Dani on 9-30-2008 at 8:59 am
When I was a teenager, my family was eating out at a restaurant. The man at the next table suddenly stood up, face turning colors and clawing at his throat. My father – a physician – immediately stood up and gave him the Heimlich (and out popped something half-chewed).
While the man came over and thanked my father several times and even tried to buy our dinner (my father refused), his wife seemed far from grateful. She was constantly hissing in the man’s ear for the rest of the dinner about how he had embarrassed her and their children. She even refused to look at our table all night!
Some people are just bizarre…
posted by Chasmosaur on 9-30-2008 at 9:06 am
My 4 year old daughter swallowed a penny earlier this year and began to choke. I did not think of the Heimlich. I also turned her upside and whacked her on the back. It immediately came out and she and I were able to breathe again shortly after that.
posted by Toni on 9-30-2008 at 9:15 am
I had to Heimlich a drunk girl who was choking on her own vomit at a college party. Soooo appealing. I told her it was probably going to hurt and then got her clear off the ground…she sprayed a decent bit and started coughing, so it worked. Her friends swore that I saved her life. *shrug* I saw her the next morning looking like death warmed over.
posted by JH on 9-30-2008 at 10:26 am
Since 2006, American Red Cross guidelines have recommended backblows as the first treatment response; if the backblows fail, proceed with abdominal thrusts (formerly called the Heimlich maneuver). The American Heart Association still teaches abdominal thrusts as the first response. Google “Red Cross Heimlich.”
In Australia, they’ve eliminated the Heimlich/abdominal thrusts (which have been associated with serious injury) and replaced it with chest thrusts. Google “Australia chest thrusts Heimlich.”
FYI, the movie “Choke” starring Sam Rockwell opened last week….
posted by Pookie on 9-30-2008 at 11:06 am
*LMFAO at Reese’s story*
I was in a market in Shen Yang, China, and I was really hungry, so I went to a stall, and bought what I thought was a big warm riceball. I get this baseball sized ball of what I still think is warm sticky rice, and take a giant bite out of it.
It is not sticky rice.
It is in fact something roughly the consistency and texture of contact cement. It completely coats my mouth, my tongue, and my throat, coating it all. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t open my mouth, nothing. Horrible. I struggled for a minute, finally pried my jaws open, and scooped the mucilage from my mouth. It was terrible-before using my fingers to clear out my mouth, I tried to draw in a breath, and pulled it even deeper into my throat.
I stayed clear of any riceball looking foods after that….
posted by Amdela on 9-30-2008 at 11:52 am
As a lifeguard for 7 years here in New Brunswick I was always taught (and always taught my students) no backblows for adults, only the Heimlich (upward thrusts below the diaphram), and only once the person choking has gone “complete” (i.e., no sound, no air). Small children get the backblows and small chest compresions. Also, it could be that Ellen Barkin had a partial blockage and was still getting some air…or maybe she had the hots for Stallone and didn’t know how else to grab his attention :P
posted by Brittany on 9-30-2008 at 11:55 am
My mom saved an old lady’s life in Denny’s one time. I was about 8 or 9 months pregnant and we were eating at the packed resturant when my mom jumped up from our table suddenly. The old lady sitting at the table behind me was struggling to breath and since my mom works in the dental field, she is trained in first aid. She calmly asked the lady if she was choking, the woman nodded and my mom said ‘you know what we have to do.’ The lady turned around and my mom did the Heimlich. Even though Denny’s was packed, no one noticed or offered help and my mom didn’t even get a thanks from the manager. Beware of Moons over my Hammy.
posted by Kim on 9-30-2008 at 12:41 pm
In 7th grade I was eating lunch in the cafeteria when i started to choke on a peice of pizze. It was horrible school grade pizze that i swear had a huge chunk of uncooked cheeze that got lodged in my throat. I couldn’t breath and I stood up and my friend pointed and laughed at me saying “HAHA Brandi’s choking!” No one did anything! I stuck my fingers down my throat and out came a bunch of milk and a giant chunk of pizza. I was alive but then the whole school heard the story and it took a while for everyone to forget, ugh kidz!
posted by Brandi on 9-30-2008 at 1:31 pm
What about Mama Cass (of Mama’s and the Papa’s fame). Didn’t she choke on a ham sandwich or something?
posted by Ian on 9-30-2008 at 1:33 pm
Hey Ian, maybe Mama Cass isn’t on the list because she DIDN’T choke on a ham sandwich. She died of heart failure.
posted by What? on 9-30-2008 at 1:49 pm
the only near death by choking situation i had involved spaghetti and pizza (melty cheese), and in both cases seeing no help forthcoming from my parents i just reached in as far as i could, got a hold on the food and pulled it out. fun.
posted by Sue on 9-30-2008 at 2:26 pm
There’s something drastically wrong with Pierce Brosnan’s reasoning!
posted by Judy on 9-30-2008 at 2:35 pm
Not choking but more of a severe difficulty breathing. I was at a movie theater and was eating some of the nachos- I accidentally inhaled a piece of chip that was too big and it got caught, side ways, in my throat. Because it was not the flat way, I could breath, but just barely. Water just went around it so, I went to the consession stand to ask for some bread and they had no clue what I was talking about (hot dog bun- duh!) finally they got me what I asked for and I was fine. Haven’t had the nachos since, though.
posted by Karen on 9-30-2008 at 3:40 pm
I actually have a few things to tell on this subject. First of all, regarding the celebrities choking- i have read about a few more in the past that have been missed out on here-
Nicole Kidman-choked on a vegetable and was given the Heimlich.
Kelly Brook- choked on a piece of steak-the story said that the Heimlcih move wasnt working on her, and that a waiter had to stick his fingers down her throat to get it out-apparantly she turned blue.
Matt Damon- also got a piece of steak stuck in his throat and was saved by Brad Pitt.
Leo DiCaprio (Hunk)– choked on a piece of raw carrot, and his mum heimliched it out of him.
My own experiences-i can only describe as horrific and terrifying.
My boyfriend choked badly on a piece of steak once-didn’t chew it properly (steak is hazardous!) He turned blue, and i seriously thought he was going to actually choke to death. His mates were thumping him on the back and heimlichin him for ages-it was awful-it eventually came loose.
My own terrifying ordeal was when i swallowed 2 paracetamol tablets at the sam time, and they somehow got stuck together in my throat- absolutely AWFUL feeling. I was alone at my kitchen sink, just gagging and retching for ages. Thank god i eventually vomited-sending the pills up and out of my throat.
I cannot begin to imagine how horrible it must be to actually choke to DEATH!! Choking happens far too often, it scares the hell out of me.
posted by Lisa on 10-1-2008 at 5:44 pm
My wife started choking on a dried chick-pea once, and I had to jump up behind her on the couch to deliver the Heimlich.
Once the pea was dislodged and fell to the floor, she came-to…looked at me and asked in a stern voice, “What the hell are you doing?!”
We still laugh about that to this day.
posted by paul on 10-7-2008 at 6:02 pm
Damn you Mike Deaver!
posted by Dale on 10-30-2008 at 10:54 pm
Once I got a piece of chicken breast caught in my throat. I made the international sign for choking. No one stepped forward to help. So I died.
posted by dale on 10-30-2008 at 10:59 pm
Reagan nearly choked on a peanut? Must’ve resulted in permanent brain damage…that’s the easiest explanation for his maniacal insistance on de-regulation, and here we are paying for it all these years later.
Who’d have thought that it’d have taken this long to find the real culprit for the current financial meltdown?
posted by rod on 10-31-2008 at 12:14 am
the peanut story was a media cover up…reagan had a heart attack…
posted by whatever on 11-11-2008 at 9:49 am