The fear and urgency El Pasoan Anne Davis, 89, felt while choking on a piece of meat for minutes at a Westside restaurant is something she feels vividly two years later.<\/p>\n
Davis has partial dystonia in her vocal cords, a movement disorder that causes the muscles to contract and can lead to difficulty swallowing.<\/p>\n
Davis recalls people hastily applying the Heimlich maneuver, a standard airway clearing procedure, on her to no avail.<\/p>\n
Davis\u2019 life was saved by a fellow restaurant patron, who placed a strange-looking device on her face. The LifeVac, a non-powered, portable suction device, dislodged the food from her throat with ease.<\/p>\n
Davis is grateful to be sharing the story today.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe just put it on my face and managed to stop me from choking,\u201d she said in an interview Wednesday. \u201cI mean, this thing was amazing, and it saved my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The device, she said, even surprised the El Paso firefighters that arrived at the scene.<\/p>\n
The woman who saved Davis\u2019 life was El Pasoan Julia Drewry. Her sister-in-law, Michelle Lowery, had given her the device.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt like God had a role in this for sure,\u201d said Drewry, recalling the incident. \u201cI could never have anticipated this would have happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drewry received a bouquet of flowers after the incident as a \u201cthank you\u201d from Davis and her late husband, Samuel Davis.<\/p>\n
Drewry and Lowery now use every opportunity they have to share this plunger-like device with restaurants, schools and anyone willing to listen. About 5,000 people die from choking each year in the United States, according to the National Safety Council, a nationally recognized nonprofit founded in 1931.<\/p>\n
Choking is the fourth leading cause of unintentional injury death in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health. It can cause harm to the body, including stroke, cardiac arrest, paralysis, speech disorders and brain injury.<\/p>\n
The LifeVac is a patented, FDA-approved device invented in 2012 by Arthur Lih, CEO of the LifeVac company based in New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Home Depot and said to myself, \u2018We\u2019re dealing with a stuck pipe. What would a plumber do?\u2019\u201d Lih said. \u201cI saw a little sink plunger, and right there I put it on my face. I pushed and pulled it, and it made a real pop sound. I thought it was certainly simple, certainly intuitive. That was my inspiration right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lih was creating an early version of the LifeVac while thinking about the well-being of his then 7-year-old daughter, Jackie. He had heard a news story about a woman mourning the loss of her son, who had died choking on a grape despite attempts to save him using standard choking protocols.<\/p>\n
The Heimlich maneuver has an 86.5% success rate, according to the National Institutes of Health. Potential complications include broken ribs, bruising and internal organ damage.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was scared,\u201d he said. \u201cI really made it first to be able to save her.\u201d<\/p>\n
The device, which has different-sized facemasks, works on adults and children. You can also use it on yourself if no one is around to help while you are choking.<\/p>\n
Lih spoke to El Paso Inc. Thursday from LifeVac\u2019s headquarters in Nesconset, N.Y. He sat in the company\u2019s \u201cWall of Saves\u201d room \u2013 a space with the pictures of the nearly 5,000 people his invention has saved.<\/p>\n
The LifeVac device has been purchased in more than 30 countries, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my inspiration,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a really special place because in four minutes, all these people would be gone. Instead, they\u2019re all still here.\u201d<\/p>\n
The LifeVac costs about $70 and comes with three masks \u2013 an adult and pediatric-sized mask and a practice mask.<\/p>\n
Lowery, a board member at El Paso Children\u2019s Hospital and University Medical Clinic of El Paso, found out about the LifeVac five years ago while watching videos of how they are used. She has purchased more than 20 devices since.<\/p>\n
Lowery has given LifeVacs to family members, her four children and multiple schools in El Paso, including Coronado High School in the Westside.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou always try the Heimlich maneuver first, but it really gives me peace of mind knowing I have another tool in your arsenal for situations like this,\u201d Lowery said.<\/p>\n