A little girl nearly chokes on a gummy bear while at the movies, and a woman in the audience saves her by performing the Heimlich maneuver to clear her airways.

It happened in Foggia on Sunday, December 28th. At that moment, the woman's parents thanked her but didn't ask her name. Then, through the online newspaper Assocarenews, which published the story, she was identified. She is Francesca Vitale, a 38-year-old computer engineer originally from Foggia but living in Madrid, who was in Foggia on vacation with her husband, spending the holidays with her family.

"The little girl was sitting with her parents three or four rows behind me," Francesca recounts, "when I heard a strange sound, a hissing sound . At a certain point, screams began from the other people in the room, asking if a doctor was present. I rushed toward the little girl, leaning on the stairs beside the seats: she was no longer breathing. Around her, there were screams and someone was trying to hit her chest with their hands. I performed the maneuver, applying the correct amount of pressure to her diaphragm, and a few seconds later the little girl recovered. Her mother, in shock, hugged me. We all returned to the film screening, although we were very scared."

Francesca also recounts another episode to highlight the importance of the maneuver. "On December 28, 2022," she recalls, "I was in the same condition as the little girl. I was choking. My husband, whom I had taught the maneuver, saved me. I appeal to everyone. Follow the course. Learn the maneuver correctly. It can save a life. It saved me and also the little girl who could have died."

(Unioneonline/vl)

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