Christian Moreno, a contestant in the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival in New Hampshire was going for it! He was battling 5 others to see who could eat the most lobster rolls in 10 minutes. His goal was 20. But 2 rolls in he had a problem. “I was so hyper-focused that I was not chewing. The rolls was just sitting here in my throat, so I tried to wash it down with some water and it ended up getting stuck.”
Christian hit his chest a few times and it became apparent he was choking. The man who had introduced the contestants was the Governor Chris Sununu. He was still standing on the stage so when he saw Christian pounding his chest, he ran over to help. Christian says "The Gov wasted no time trying to remedy the situation with the Heimlich maneuver”.
Sununu said it was the first time he'd performed the maneuver. “I’m just glad I paid attention in my high school health class.”
Paramedics were on the scene with in a few seconds and made sure Christian was going to be OK. “The paramedic tapped me and was like, ‘So, you’re going to keep going?' And I was like, 'Yeah, I’m good'". He had lost about 2 minutes. But still finished in 4th polishing off 7 more rolls for a total of 9. The winner at 13.