Firefighter groom saved woman's life with Heimlich manoeuvre during wedding reception

A Los Angeles firefighter interrupted his own wedding reception to help a choking guest. Cody Campbell, 30, was listening to his father Craig's speech when another guest shouted, "She's choking!" Campbell sprung out of his chair and rushed to help, performing the Heimlich manoeuvre on a woman in her 60s.



“At the time I was giving my toast about how proud I was that he was a firefighter, we overheard a couple of people yell, ‘Oh my God! She’s choking,’ ” recalls Craig Campbell, Campbell’s father and best man. “Basically, I just grabbed her and I kicked the chair out of the way, found her navel, rolled up and I just started doing the Heimlich as hard as I could and I did it about five times,” Cody Campbell said.





Many of the wedding guests were firefighters, who lined up to help. Campbell’s bride, Kelly, said some in the crowd didn’t think it was real. “The timing was just crazy with how the speeches were going and what was said,” she said. “Even some people in the back who really couldn’t see this far ahead truly thought that it might have been staged.”


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She added: “but I assure you, I’m not an actress, that was not faking it.” Campbell said the guest ended up finishing her steak and that he later saw her on the dance floor. “I saw her out on the dance floor. She’s like, ‘You saved my life!’ It’s kind of a surreal feeling,” he said. The wedding reception then continued without further incident.