New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu was captured on video this week rushing in and administering the Heimlich maneuver to a man who began choking at a food eating contest.
Contestant Christian Moreno was one of several people competing at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival contest on Sunday when he began choking on a lobster roll.
The Associated Press reported that participants had 10 minutes to eat as many lobster rolls — a hot dog bun stuffed with lobster, celery, and mayonnaise — as possible, and that Moreno was personally shooting to eat “at least 20,” according to comments he made before the contest began.
Moreno began chowing down on the lobster rolls when, after only consuming a couple of them, he began pounding on his chest and signaled that he needed help.
Sununu jumped in, positioned himself behind Moreno, placed his fist around Moreno’s gut, and began administering the Heimlich maneuver.
Sununu said, “It was crazy because it wasn’t so much the jumping in and doing it — I mean, that was wild in itself — but there was so much commotion.”
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Moreno said that he had no idea that he was saved by the governor and thought it was a joke when someone first told him.
“My counter came up to me and, like, made a joke, and was like, ‘Oh, like, I bet nobody else can say that they’ve gotten the Heimlich from the governor before,'” he said. “And I looked at him, was just like, that was, that was the governor?”
He returned to the contest, downing nine lobster rolls in total, but did not win.
WATCH:
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s swift actions saved a man from choking on a lobster roll. pic.twitter.com/5Z0nQqbP7l
— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) September 10, 2024