It was a Sunday afternoon when Viviane walked into her kitchen and found her nine month old nephew sitting in his highchair. His babysitter was feeding him rice and beans. Everything seemed fine.

A few minutes passed when Viviane heard her nephew let out a slight cough. She turned around and, feeling that something wasn’t right, unstrapped the baby from the highchair. Suddenly, the baby’s face started turning purple—he was choking on his lunch.

Viviane immediately grabbed her nephew out of the high chair, laid him across her arm and started giving him back blows. With every blow, she became increasingly fearful that her baby nephew may have swallowed way too much at once. His face was getting more and more purple by the second.

As tears rolled down her face, Viviane continued to give it her all, fearing the worst but praying for a salvation. With one more hard blow, a full clump of rice and beans came shooting out of her nephew's mouth and he began to breathe again.

Viviane had taken one of Blink’s summer classes two years earlier, and that afternoon she used the training to save her nephew's life. 

On a nice summer day, Ellen was sitting on the Allenhurst boardwalk, eating a salad while watching the waves crash onto the shore. She was thrilled to finally be able to find a few minutes in her busy schedule to relax. However, her peaceful lunch by the beach would soon flip upside down.

While eating, Ellen felt a piece of lettuce get stuck in her throat. She quickly grabbed hold of her soda, thinking that perhaps the soda will wash down the lettuce. It didn’t work, and within seconds her airway was completely blocked.

She needed help ASAP. In Ellen’s words, “it felt like there was a brick in my throat”. She began to scream for help, but quickly realized she couldn’t yell because she was choking.

Ellen then began to wave over at the other benches way down the boardwalk for help, but all they did was wave back, not understanding what was going on.

With tears in her eyes, and no alternative in sight, she ran right into the bench she had been sitting on, pressing her stomach as hard as she could against it. The powerful force upon impact immediately cleared her airway as a three-inch beet came flying out. 

Baruch Hashem, Ellen literally saved her own life, with the Blink training she received just one summer earlier.

Jack was at a wedding in West Deal shul. He was sitting at a table eating dinner. He looked across the room and saw a man patting his friend on the back. He went back to eat dinner, but when he looked up again, he noticed the same scene continuing: a man patting his friend on the back. Jack quickly realized this wasn’t a friendly gesture: his friend was choking, and no one around him knew what to do.

He ran over and said, “do you need help? I know what to do!”  He got around the friend, who had been choking for 30 seconds now, and began to give him the Heimlich Maneuver. Within 5 seconds, a huge piece of steak came flying out, and he was able to breathe again. Jack saved his friend’s life using the Heimlich Maneuver, in the same place he learned how to use it in the first place: West Deal Shul, one year earlier, with Blink.

Isaac was sitting with his two year old son, feeding him small pieces of pizza. Everything seemed normal, until the baby began to cough and gag. Seconds later, his baby stopped breathing.

Not wasting a minute, Isaac did everything he learned in his Blink class. He picked his baby up, and began the choking procedures. While hitting his baby’s back, he prayed to Hashem that his baby should be okay. And thankfully, his baby started breathing again.

It was a typical day, and Margarette buckled her 11 month old baby into his high chair. She put some blueberries on his tray and watched as he slowly picked up each piece and gently put it in his mouth.

A few minutes later, Margarette got up to go get something from the fridge. While her back was to the high chair, she heard a cough. And then another cough. And then there was silence.

She turned around and saw his son blue in the face. She quickly pulled him out of the high chair, and started performed back blows. Thank G-d, a nice sized blueberry came flying out. Margarette is so thankful to Blink for giving her the tools to save her baby’s life. 

Mrs. Mansour was feeding her granddaughter dinner when she suddenly realized that her grandchild was choking. Mrs. Mansour took a Blink class once before, and knew exactly what to do in order to save her granddaughter. Within seconds, her granddaughter was breathing again.

Charles’ family was sitting around their kitchen table, eating noodles and pizza for dinner. They were laughing and talking about their day. Suddenly, Charles’ baby brother begin to gag. The baby tried coughing it up but within seconds he stopped breathing and his entire face turned blue.

Instead of panicking, the entire family stayed calm. Charles had ensured that his entire family take a Blink class together just four months earlier and they thus knew exactly how to act.

Charles’ mother quickly picked up her son and started giving him back blows. Thankfully, the food came out seconds later and the little baby was breathing again.

Charles reached out to Blink that night to share the story, and on behalf of his family stated, “We appreciate all that you do for the community and cannot even begin to describe how thankful we are for your organization. Thank you.”

Mr. Cohen, a Magen David Yeshivah teacher, took a Blink teacher’s training CPR course in MDY. Following the class, he felt confident that he knew what to do if the situation ever arose, but he never imagined he’d have to use the skills he learned.

One Saturday night, Mr. Cohen’s youngest son was eating a snack when suddenly he began to choke. Mr. Cohen immediately came behind his son and began to perform the Heimlich Maneuver on him. Less than 15 seconds later, the snack flew out of his mouth and he was able to breathe again.

Mr. Cohen had trained with MDY in case a student was ever in need, but never did he imagine he’d need to perform the skills on his own son.

Jack and his baby nephew were sitting together eating a snack when suddenly the baby began to choke.  Thankfully, Jack took a Blink class once before and knew exactly what to do. He immediately flipped his nephew over and patted his back. Baruch Hashem, the snack came flying out. 

As finals season was coming to an end, Joseph was studying on campus for his last exam. The campus was pretty much empty since most students finished their exams for the semester. Joseph, the only one on the fourth floor, was standing by his locker and reaching for his textbook. Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder. As Joseph turned around, he found his classmate helpless and pale, motioning for help. Joseph realized that she was choking. Time was of the essence.

He quickly recalled what he learned in a Blink CPR class. Performing the Heimlich Maneuver, Joseph hoped to dislodge the object from his classmate’s throat. However, the item stuck in her throat wouldn’t dislodge, and within seconds she passed out.

Kneeling alongside his classmate’s still body, Joseph quickly dialed 911 with one hand and began CPR with the other. 30 compressions 2 breaths, 30 compressions 2 breaths, 30 compressions 2 breaths… He pounded on her chest and tried to breathe new life into her mouth. Joseph was yelling his location to the 911 operator on speakerphone while he continued performing CPR. Little by little, he felt her heart begin to beat. By the time the EMT’s arrived, the item had dislodged, her pulse had regained and she was breathing again.

The EMT’s examined their patient and thankfully she was completely healthy and didn’t even need to be transported to the hospital. As the EMT’S were leaving the scene, they turned to Joseph and told him that he literally saved his classmates’ life. Thank G-d, Joseph was in the right place at the right time and knew exactly what to do.

Following the dramatic incident, Joseph stated that “there was no one else who could help me; it was the last day of the semester, the hallways were empty. I kept going, all the while screaming for her to "stay with me", as if that could help. 9-1-1 told me they're on their way. I kept pushing. And then I heard her pulse begin to beat again. It took 9-1-1 six minutes total to reach me. But it felt like a million years. I know there was no shot she was making it if I did nothing. And 9-1-1 confirmed just that. They told me I saved her life, and asked me where I learned how to do CPR. "From BLINK", I said, "just a few months ago".”

Jacob, a teacher for special children, was sitting with his students during lunch, when he noticed his 8-year-old student was choking. Having already used his blink training once before to save a different student’s life, Jacob felt confident to handle the situation.

Without missing a beat, Jacob grabbed onto his student, performed the Heimlich Maneuver and within seconds watched as a pretzel came shooting out.  

Priscilla was sitting with her 95-year-old mother one night when she suddenly went into cardiac arrest. Had Priscilla not known what to do, who knows what would have happened, but thankfully she had attended a Blink class just weeks earlier.

She quickly bent down to her mother and performed the 30 compressions, 2 breaths, 30 compressions, 2 breaths. Quickly and efficiently repeating these steps, she soon felt a pulse. Hatzalah soon arrived and transported her mother to the hospital.

Thanks to Priscilla’s quick actions, her mother ended up living for two more days, which enabled Priscilla and her family to be with their mother one last time before she passed away.

Eva was feeding her one year old baby meatballs for dinner. He began to choke and was gasping for air. Eva remained calm, pick up her son and began giving him back blows. Within seconds the meatball came flying out. She was literally able to save her baby’s life, thanks to the Blink training she received one year earlier.

4-year-old Jack and his family went to Hathaway beach on July 4th weekend to relax and have some fun. Jack had a blast dipping his feet in the ocean with his brothers and sisters, and nothing was better than building castles out of the wet sand.

At some point, Jack got hungry and asked his mother for the snack bag. After rummaging through the snacks, Jack picked out a bag of pretzels and went to go sit on his little lounge chair.

Excited to snack on his favorite pretzels, Jack ripped open the bag and stuffed his mouth with a few of them. A few moments later, though, his eyes opened up in horror. The pretzels had joined together in his throat, and he was completely unable to get them to go down. He couldn’t breathe at all. He was choking.

He tried yelling, but he wasn’t able to make a sound. He quickly ran over to his parents with his hands wrapped around his neck. He was desperately trying to squeeze the pretzels out but to no avail.

Immediately upon seeing his son in danger, his father sprang into action, got behind his youngest son and began to perform the Heimlich Maneuver. One strong blow to the chest after another, Jack’s father prayed for a miracle as the tears rolled down his and his wife’s face. A few seconds later, a clump pretzels came flying out of Jacks mouth and he was breathing again.

Jack’s father knew how to help his son when he needed it the most, thanks to the hand of Hashem and the Blink course he attended just one summer earlier.

Laurie, a real estate agent, was showing a client a house. The owner of the house had a 10-month-old baby. While Laurie was walking the client through the kitchen, she saw the baby eating spaghetti and suddenly begin to choke.

Luckily, Laurie took a Blink class and the client himself happened to be a Hatzalah member. Laurie and the Hatzalah member quickly sprang into action and within 30 seconds the baby began to breathe again. Baruch Hashem, Laurie and the client were in the right place at the right time and were given the opportunity to save the baby’s life. 

Jacob was sitting with his special-needs student, when he suddenly realized the student wasn’t acting himself. After a few seconds, Jacob understood that his camper was choking.

Without wasting a second, Jacob got behind his autistic camper and began performing the Heimlich Maneuver. After three seconds, the snack came flying out and he was able to breathe again. Jacob explains that his Blink training is the only reason why he knew what to do, and enabled him to feel confident, stay calm and do what he needed to do to save his student.

Karen was giving her baby rice and peas for dinner. All seemed fine, until he started gagging and was unable to breathe. The young mom quickly pulled the baby out of the highchair and performed the Heimlich Maneuver. The rice and peas came flying out.

Becky was feeding her baby lunch when she suddenly turned around and saw his blue face. She speedily jumped into action and performed everything that she learned in a Blink class just a few months prior. Becky is so thankful that she knew what to do when seconds matter. It saved her baby’s life.

Joseph, a Hillel Yeshiva graduate, was in a restaurant near Yeshiva University when someone started choking. Joseph ran over to the victim, performed the Heimlich Maneuver and Baruch Hashem saved the person’s life! Joseph took a Blink CPR High School training session in Hillel just one year before the incident, enabling him to save this man’s life.