I suggest that everyone learn how to save a life just in case, one day, it becomes necessary. Yesterday morning I woke up and went on my morning routine. The first thing I do when I get to the kitchen is drink my 24 ounces of water and then go take my supplements. I was swallowing my vitamin C pills and my multivitamin and suddenly I felt like they were lodged in my throat and I couldn’t breathe.

I paused and thought they would change. They did not change. He was gasping for air. I kept calm and walked to my son’s room where he was sleeping. He heard me gasp and flew out of bed. I had my hand in a fist and was pushing it against my diaphragm area. I knew I needed the Heimlich and he grabbed me and started applying it. It took me about four tries before I could breathe again. I stood there, sucking in air and taking in what had just happened. He stood there staring at me with wide eyes. Can you imagine waking up like this?

I had to laugh a bit thinking about how things turned out. Many years ago my son had taken his vitamin and he was suddenly clutching his throat and his eyes got very big. I told him to keep calm, went over to him and did the Heimlich. Yesterday, he managed to return the favor.

Later that day, I wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t been here. I could have tried Heimlich myself on my kitchen chairs. They are rounded. It may have worked. I was thankful that I was here to save a life that turned out to be mine! I also thought about how many people don’t know how to apply life saving techniques like Heimlich or CPR.

Courses are offered everywhere to teach these simple life-saving techniques. It is very important that we learn to use these tools that we have at our disposal. The best case is that we never have to use them. Well, on second thought, maybe the best case scenario is that we are the ones in the room and we know how to use them and we can save a life as a result of the knowledge that we have acquired by learning.

I suggest that everyone who does not yet have the skills find out how to learn them. Start with your local hospital. See what they offer or where they refer you. You may one day save a life! Who doesn’t want to be a hero?