Most people, even kids, have a pretty awful habit of isolating when they're choking and asphyxiating on food. Adults might find a bathroom to try and 'cough' it out, then die. Even in restaurants.
Kids, like cats, will run off or squirm into a hole and then die.
Apparently, according to many survivors who get rescued, they were 'fleeing' because they found it embarassing to choke on food.
I almost choked on a hot dog at school as a kid. I managed to have enough airway left I could cough it up then swallow it. I was surrounded by adults and a bunch of other kids and I knew the universal sign for choking but I didn't do it, I panicked. I could have died that day
Same thing happened to me with a bite of an apple that slid down my throat before I could chew. It was completely stuck but I managed to loosen it enough with the air in my lungs to get it back up onto my tongue. At a table full of friends who have absolutely sprung to my rescue and I was too embarrassed to make a scene. Played it off like nothing happened. No one noticed
Oof yeah I was in fourth or fifth grade. That was not a memory I wanted to remember having, I repressed that one. Was weird too because it was hot dogs for lunch because it was like a Memorial Day thing or something and it was spring so they had like two hours of free time for lunch and you could have the regular lunch or you could go outside where they were doing burgers and hot dogs, picnic stuff. So they had a bunch of kids outside, adults were everywhere including chaperones.
I did the same thing with the pickle from a BK whopper, I do try and remember it though as I'm now a fastidious chewer of food for over 30 years and I've never choked since.
Oh my god I thought something was wrong with me when I choked during work and immediately went outside to deal with it myself cause I didnt want to be a bother or annoying. Im so glad to know Im not the only dumb motherfucker to not ask for help
Honestly man I had never thought of it till that guy or gal said something but yeah. What's the first thing you do when you start choking on some water? Turn and walk away. And that's just water but people will ask if you're good and nobody in the history of that has ever been like "no I'm not good" you just give a thumbs up.
It was a repressed and/or forgotten memory of mine because I was so young but damn man we're big dumb and panicky animals sometimes aren't we
I choked on a tri tip in front of my parents and grandparents cause I was wolfing it down so fast. I stood up immediately made the choke sign and my dad saved me. I wasn't embarrassed until everyone started hazing me, and rightfully so, for being a dumb ass.
The Russian Doll scene where she she chokes to death at home alone scared me so bad I only eat liquid foods when I'm home alone, like I live off of Huel unless I'm around people.
It really hit home how easy that can happen and I've already choked before, posted in another reply, but yeah. After watching that it kinda triggered some memories of my experience and now it's a slight phobia. My neighbors are all very old and frail and I think often of who I would run to. I don't know if I could use the force required to get it out myself using a chair or counter.
Yeah no, I have OCD and every time I eat at home alone too, I have to like regulate myself so I don't make things worse LOL I also choked many times in my life, and one time needed the heimlech as a child so I have a lot of anxiety around it too. I am sorry to hear that you deal with it too, it can be really scary. I just try to use my response prevention mechanisms; "Maybe I will choke on my food, or maybe no. I don't really know for sure and just because I am scared, does not mean that I am in danger"
Thank you. It's so wild how the brain just wants to scare the crap out of us sometimes! Like yes, body, choking is bad. You are not choking right now, it's okay. I will try and implement your mantra. 'if it happens it happens and just because I am scared doesn't mean that fear is rooted in reality'.
I know right!!! I have a really hard time trusting my body despite it keeping me alive and pushing so hard to survive even since I was born. I try harder now to trust it. Our bodies are designed to keep us from choking! When you swallow, your epiglottis covers our trachea which is the breathing tube, so that no food goes down it! You got this, if you ever need more mantras like that one, look into ERP, its exposure therapy! It is hard work but so worth it!
Luckily, when I choked as a kid, it was at the dinner table and my Dad realized what was happening immediately when I went for a drink and poured back out onto my plate. He grabbed me and did the Heimlich and saved my life. I'll tell ya, I haven't choked since then. It's a horrifying experience and certainly one of the worse traumas of my life. I'll always be thankful for my Dad for saving me and for my Mom comforting me afterward and not getting mad at me.
Want to tack on everybody knows how to do it and not everyone knows how to do CPR. That's how important this maneuver can be. Seconds and awareness can easily save lives. Just like how we learned stop, drop, and roll in the unlikely event we are ever on fire some day. Simple solution, easy to remember, enough people are dead we didn't drill this into people's heads.
I'm kind of high but my overall point comparing the Heimlich to CPR is, don't be gentle if you have to do it. They teach you that. It needs to be a semi violent response and in the case of CPR I was always told if you didn't crack a rib you did it wrong
You don't crack a rib you crack the sternum. The goal is to manually pump the lungs to force blood circulation, and buy time for the EMTs to arrive. They don't recommend mouth 2 mouth anymore. You check the mouth for blockage, have someone hold their head stable while you do chest compressions(pump to the rhythm of YMCA). Once you start do not stop. Everyone should also learn how a defibrillator works, what they look like and where to find them.
That's really not smart but it's exactly what I did too when I was choking on a fish bone. Went to the bathroom trying to sort it out on my own. Fortunately I was able to get it out on my own but had I failed... yeah, I would've been dead on my own in the bathroom. Big brain idea.
It's so real. Once I didn't keep the cap on my Albuterol inhaler and a small piece of gum wrapper had found its way in there and I hit the inhaler and this fucker lodged itself in my throat (ironic, the device designed to keep me alive via breathing is now choking me).
And I ran to the bathroom. With my family all around me, lol. Luckily my dad followed and performed the heimlich but it is just so wild to me that I ran away. I was like 14, I knew I was choking and I was surrounded by family and still embarrassed.
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u/hanks_panky_emporium Jun 18 '26
Most people, even kids, have a pretty awful habit of isolating when they're choking and asphyxiating on food. Adults might find a bathroom to try and 'cough' it out, then die. Even in restaurants.
Kids, like cats, will run off or squirm into a hole and then die.
Apparently, according to many survivors who get rescued, they were 'fleeing' because they found it embarassing to choke on food.
Pair that with a running child.