By Kristen HamptonMayla Conroy is alive today thanks to the quick acts of a stranger.
The 13-year-old girl and her mother were eating lunch in the food court at Westfield Mall in Gastonia, NC. Mayla's mother, Trudy Conroy, said she put her daughters straw in her drink and looked up to see the girl slumped over.
"I just picked her up, I don't know where the strength came from," said the girl's mother. Mayla was choking on a piece of sesame chicken.
Conroy began doing the Heimlich Maneuver on her daughter. "I gave about 7 thrusts and just kept saying,'Mayla, Mayla, talk to Mamma honey, talk to Mamma."
It wasn't working.
Conroy says she began to scream for help when her attempts failed to dislodge the piece of food.
That's when Lincolnton businessman Buddy Chaney stepped in.
"The little girl's poor mother just looked at me, I mean dead in the eyes, and said,'Sir please don't let my baby die," said Chaney.
Chaney says he felt the weight of the world on his shoulders as his attempts at the Heimlich Maneuver worked, but as the food would become dislodged, Mayla's gasps for air would get it stuck again.
Finally the food flew out of the girl's mouth.
As Paramedics arrived, they found the group, all crying, and Mayla's mother saying thank you, over and over.
Chaney says he'd like for people to learn from this story. He hopes everyone watching will learn or even refresh their memories on how to properly administer the technique that saved Mayla's life.
For information on how to perform the Heimlich Maneuver, click here
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