Madison Brydels was hanging Halloween decorations when a customer stood up from his seat and signaled that he was choking.
MOSS BLUFF, La. — A server at a Louisiana restaurant sprang into action to help save a choking customer.
Madison Brydels was hanging Halloween decorations at Budatan Restaurant on Wednesday night when a customer stood up from his seat and signaled that he was choking.
“I didn’t even think at all,” Brydels said. “I rushed over to him and I gave him the Heimlich maneuver. And then right after that, I patted his back and went to the back and finished my shift.”
It wasn’t the first time Brydels had performed the lifesaving technique. She said she learned it years ago when her father was choking.
“I was never really properly taught,” she said. “The first time I did the Heimlich maneuver was when my dad was choking on his own throw up, and he kind of walked me through it…when he was choking, and I kind of just put that into action last Wednesday night.”
Grace Ardoin, a fellow employee who was hanging decorations with Brydels at the time of the incident, praised her coworker’s quick response.
“That was my table, and I’m just, like, so proud of her because I had no idea what to do,” Ardoin said. “I was just looking around to see if anybody knew the Heimlich or anything, and she just jumped into action really fast.”
The restaurant posted surveillance video of the rescue on Facebook, where viewers called Brydels a hero.
Brydels downplayed the praise.
“I honestly don’t see myself as a hero,” she said. “It was just a natural reaction. If it was anybody, I would have done it to anybody, honestly.”