Yayne Abeba was eating a salad at home when she realised that something had become lodged in her throat.

Worst of all, she couldn’t get it out – and she was on her own. 

A large piece of lettuce had become stuck and she couldn’t breathe properly. To her horror, she realised she was choking. 

“At first, I tried to pull it out with my finger but it wouldn’t come out. I was all alone and I panicked at first,” the 54-year-old told HuffPost UK.

But then she remembered a video she’d watched on YouTube about what to do in the event of choking and being alone. So, she quickly took action. 

“I grabbed a dining chair and shoved the back of it into my midsection,” says Abeba, a stand-up comedian and content creator based in Nashville, Tennessee.

“It hit around my diaphragm and forced the lettuce out.”

Such quick-thinking likely saved her life. 

Abeba shared the story with her Instagram followers in the hopes that if it ever happened to any of them, they would also know what to do. Her video has garnered over 140,000 likes.

“I was so grateful that I had remembered that video,” she said.

“Once I stopped crying and convincing my dog that I was OK (my cat didn’t care), I thought that I should share that experience with others.”

CE Safety conducted an analysis of data on UK choking deaths between 2018-2022 and found that 1,399 people died during that period as a result of choking on either food or other small objects.

Young children and the elderly are most at risk of choking – however, it can happen to anyone.

Dr Kirsten Bechtel, a professor of paediatrics and emergency medicine at Yale University, told Glamour that when adults choke, it’s usually because they’re multitasking.

“They often take a deep breath as they’re eating — say, they’re talking at dinner — so food enters the oesophagus and goes down into the airway or the trachea,” she explained.

What to do if you’re choking (and alone)

We’re often told what to do if someone else is choking, including administering back blows and performing abdominal thrusts (also known as the Heimlich manoeuvre).

But if you’re alone, then what are you supposed to do?

First up, call 999, and then, as quickly as you can, start the Heimlich on yourself. 

According to Mayo Clinic, this involves placing a fist slightly above your belly button and grasping your first with the other hand. 

Then bend over a hard surface such as a kitchen counter or chair and shove your first inward and upward.

Now you know this life-saving info, pass it on!