Ilyas Yildir was enjoying a sandwich in his office during his lunch break when a piece of it got stuck in his throat. Alone, he had no one to signal to for help, but he needed to act fast or risk choking to death. Maintaining his composure, Yildir got off from his chair, went behind it, and started pushing his body against the backrest, essentially performing the Heimlich on himself.

Yıldır, an Emergency Medical Technician working at the 112 Emergency Health Center in Osmaniye, was caught on CCTV as he fought for his life, and the footage went viral on social media, eventually garnering international attention.

“While eating in our office, a piece of food got stuck in my throat. It completely blocked my airway,” the medical worker said in an interview. “As a first aid instructor, I knew exactly what to do. I didn’t panic, I calmly performed the Heimlich maneuver on myself with the help of another person and saved my own life.”

“Saving a life is not just about saving someone else’s life; with this first aid knowledge, you can also intervene in your own life. If you are alone and there is no chair in the room, a table or any hard object can be used. The hard object is placed under the ribs, which we call the diaphragm, and strong pressure is applied forward. The aim is to use the air in the lungs to expel the object from the throat,” Yildir added.

The Heimlich manoeuvre is a first-aid procedure used to treat upper airway obstructions by applying abdominal thrusts to use the air still in the lungs to dislodge foreign objects.