ESPN Host: Missouri Fan 'Saved My Life'

Peter Burns recounts how he began choking at a restaurant
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 17, 2024 12:27 PM CDT
ESPN Host Credits Fan With Saving His Life
A screenshot of Peter Burns.   (YouTube)

An ESPN host is crediting a Missouri football fan with saving his life through the Heimlich maneuver. In a social media thread, Peter Burns writes that he was eating at a restaurant in Columbia, Missouri, with colleagues on Friday, ahead of the following day's college game between Missouri and Boston College, reports USA Today. Burns began choking on a piece of food, and he says two friends and then a nurse all tried the Heimlich on him, with no success.

At around the two-minute mark—"right as I was about to lose consciousness"—a fan named Jack Foster finally succeeded in dislodging the food. Foster is a youth sports coach who recently had CPR and Heimlich training, per a post at Awful Announcing. "That training is why I am here right now," said Burns. "I'm thankful for him and all involved that helped saved my life that night." The National Safety Council counts choking as the fourth-leading cause of "unintentional injury death," with more than 5,500 fatalities in 2022. (More Heimlich maneuver stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X