It was a happy Thanksgiving time for Hannah Marie Jarvis and her family including her 7-month-old child Calli till something unexpected happened.
Baby Calli started choking on her the mashed potato her mom was feeding her at North Carolina Golden Corral restaurant on Thanksgiving.
“We were all at the Golden Corral. We were celebrating Thanksgiving,” Jarvis said, “We were just feeding her some mashed potatoes. She just started gagging all of a sudden. She was choking.”
A waitress came over and yelled out asking if anyone could help the family.
New mom Hannah Marie Jarvis began panicking, but thank God for Good Samaritan Deborah Rouse, who was also dining at the restaurant volunteered and performed the Heimlich Maneuver on Calli and saved her life.
A waitress came over and yelled out asking if anyone could help the family.
“This lady named Deborah intervened, and she started performing the Heimlich maneuver on her,” Jarvis said to WLOS. “She held her down, like this, taking multiple blows to her back. It was miraculous, she started breathing again.”
The Heimlich maneuver is typically performed by giving quick compression under the rib cage for adults. However, for infants, forceful blows to the back while the baby is face down with its head supported is the recommended technique.
Rouse a mother of five, quickly executed the Heimlich.
Jarvis was relieved and she and her family hugged Rouse at the restaurant, but forgot to get her phone number.
Later, Jarvis told her Marine husband about how thankful she was for the woman.
“I will never forget the many tears that were shed today in Golden Corral as this angel stepped in to preform [sic] the heimlich maneuver that saved my baby from choking to death. Most importantly, thank you Jesus for hearing our desperate cries for Calli this Thanksgiving afternoon,” Jarvis wrote on her Facebook, she posted a picture of Rouse posing with Calli with the caption “Christ was with us today.”
Jarvis wanted to track down Rouse to thank her again for her actions, and her post caught Rouse’s attention with her social media post that was shared nearly 100 times.
Rouse responded saying “Good evening Mrs. Hannah, I saw the news article and I messaged you my number! I’m elated that Callie is doing well, y’all have been on my mind since yesterday! Love you all and take care.”
Rouse later responded to Jarvis’ post commenting, “What a blessing!! What a Thanksgiving.” She added “I’m soooooooo THANKFUL to God for having me in the right place at the right time!!! God, You are WORTHY.”
Since that incident, Calli has been evaluated at the hospital after the incident and is doing well.