Shocking footage shows the moment a quick-thinking Texas police officer saved a woman from choking on gum on the side of a busy highway last month.
Mansfield Officer Chad Stevens performed the Heimlich maneuver on a woman on Jan. 13 after he pulled up next to her white Honda SUV. According to the video It was released on Thursday.
When Stevens got out of the car, the woman was gasping for breath and was holding her neck, footage showed.
“Are you choking?” the officer asked the woman immediately, but she was unable to answer, body camera video showed. “Turn around, turn around”
Dashcam footage then showed the man putting his arm around her stomach and applying pressure repeatedly before the gum was removed and she was able to breathe again.
Mansfield police said Stevens first noticed the driver on Interstate 20 in North Texas near Dallas because he was in the left lane and had his hazard lights flashing.
The woman, who police identified as Samantha, told police that another driver swerved into her lane and cut her off, causing a piece of gum to become lodged in her throat and causing her to inhale.
“Someone swerved in front of me and I got scared,” she said, according to body camera footage.
For the next few minutes, she frantically searched the road for someone to help her.
“Oh my god, I was looking for someone,” Samantha said, thanking Stevens profusely.
The police department praised Stevens’ “quick thinking and lifesaving actions.”
