Madison Brydels was hanging Halloween decorations when a customer stood up from his seat and signaled that he was choking.
MOSS BLUFF, La. — A server at a Louisiana restaurant sprang into action to help save a choking customer.
While Madison Brydels was putting up Halloween decorations at Budatan Restaurant on Wednesday evening, a customer suddenly stood up indicating he was choking.
“I didn’t think twice,” Brydels recounted. “I hurried over to him and performed the Heimlich maneuver. Right after that, I patted his back and then went back to finish my shift.”
It wasn’t the first time Brydels had performed the lifesaving technique. She said she learned it years ago when her father was choking.
“I actually never received formal training,” she mentioned. “The first time I used the Heimlich maneuver was when my dad was choking on his own vomit. He kind of guided me through it… while he was choking, and I just used what I learned from that night last Wednesday.”
Grace Ardoin, a fellow employee who was hanging decorations with Brydels at the time of the incident, praised her coworker’s quick response.
“That customer was at my table, and I’m just super proud of her because I was clueless about what to do,” Ardoin explained. “I was looking around for anyone who might know how to do the Heimlich, and she quickly took action.”
The restaurant posted surveillance video of the rescue on Facebook, where viewers called Brydels a hero.
Brydels downplayed the praise.
“I honestly don’t see myself as a hero,” she said. “It was just a natural reaction. If it was anybody, I would have done it to anybody, honestly.”
