A wedding photographer not only took pictures but also saved a guest’s life when he started choking at a reception this weekend.
According to a report by Global News, Lauren Horch, an award-winning wedding photographer with Tkshotz Photography, jumped into action to save a choking guest at a reception in Canmore, Alberta in Canada on Saturday.
Horch noticed a wedding guest was struggling as she was seated at a table with the groom’s uncle at the reception.
Global News reports that the male guest was choking on food that had become lodged in his throat at the wedding reception
The quick-thinking photographer put down her camera and immediately went to the guest’s rescue.
Horch first started applying forceful pressure to the man’s back. However, when that did not seem to be successful, the wedding photographer began performing abdominal thrusts on him and got the lodged food out — saving the guest.
Though the man coughed for a bit afterward, the guest was ultimately unharmed and “very grateful” for Horch’s swift response.
“He was tearing up, and wasn’t able to get it out, and was having a hard time breathing,” the photographer tells Global News.
“Thankfully, he was able to get it out on, I think it was the third thrust.”
Horch says that she learned the life-saving Heimlich maneuver technique at a babysitting course she had taken over two decades ago.
“It’s been a number of years since I’ve done my last training,” she says.
Horch says she was relieved that she had enough first aid expertise to save a life at the wedding. However, the 38-year-old photographer says that the recent incident has “inspired” her to enroll in a first aid refresher course.
As a mother, Horch also explained how she has mentally prepared just in case such a medical emergency happens to her children.
“I’ve got kids, so I’ve always kind of walked myself through, mentally, like what would happen if they were choking,” she explains.
The owner of the photography company Tkshotz says that given the high volume of people who usually attend weddings, photographers and others in the industry should always be prepared and know what to do in case of a medical emergency.
Image credits: Feature photo licensed via Depositphotos.