Choking Man Saved By Hatboro Councilwoman
HATBORO, PA —There was Music in the Meadow and Cruise Night on a pleasant evening in the borough on Friday.
A pleasant evening until tragedy almost struck, avoided by the life-saving efforts of Borough Councilwoman Amanda Jacobus.
Jacobus was enjoying the festivities Friday with her mother and young son Henry while her husband Robert, the borough’s new events coordinator, was grilling hot dogs for residents.
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And then a Horsham Township man rushed to the table where Robert was, holding his throat.
Without hesitation, Robert shouted: “Amanda!”
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Amanda Jacobus —a Labor and Delivery Nurse at Jefferson Einstein Montgomery Hospital in East Norriton —sprung into action, rushing to her husband.
“Amanda, this man is choking,” Robert said to his wife.
“I started performing the Heimlich maneuver on him and thought it worked,” she told Patch on Wednesday. “But then he grabbed his throat a second time. I did the maneuver again and out came the hot dog. I then went back to my seat and my beverage.”
“You just saved my life,” the man told her. He then hugged her and the two posed for a picture but Jacobus didn’t even know his name.
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Such is life for Nurse Amanda, who is used to some close calls.
In 2016, she was returning on a flight after a trip with some friends and in the bathroom when a callout was made over the intercom for anyone with medical knowledge.
Jacobus found a lady in her 50s who was looking pale, sweating, and ready to pass out. Jacobus checked the woman’s blood sugar and asked what medical supplies were on the plane.
She inserted an IV thinking the woman was dehydrated since Jacobus was told they had been drinking while on vacation.
The woman came to but 15 minutes later was passing out again. Jacobus stayed with her until the plane made an emergency landing.
Last fall, she came upon a pedestrian hit by a vehicle on Street and York roads. Jacobus jumped out of the car and told her son to remain inside while she assisted the man “who looked like a ghost.
She checked his pulse and told him not to move until EMS crews arrived.
“I said after the Heimlich about why this keeps following me,” Jacobus said. “You just do what you have to do. It’s second nature that kicks in. It’s nice when you get recognized, but I was just doing what I was trained to do. Thank God for nurses and their medical knowledge.”
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