Van Driver Saves Woman Choking Behind Wheel In Mass. Pike Traffic
BOSTON (CBS) -- As the driver of a wheelchair van, James Fallon is used to shuttling folks around.
But saving a life? That was something new.
"It was a moment I'll never forget," Fallon said.
It was Friday rush hour on the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike just before the Prudential Tunnel.
Fallon was taking an elderly man home from a checkup when he spotted a woman driving the SUV next to him, rocking back and forth.
So he threw his van into park and hopped out.
"I was shaking, I was breathing heavy," Fallon said.
James scrambled over and plucked the woman from behind the wheel as she signaled she was choking.
WBZ-TV Photographer William Meservey was one of the many nearby motorists watching in amazement.
"Right in the middle of rush hour traffic, in the rain, at the base of the entrance to the Pru Tunnel," Meservey said. "He saved her life."
Amazingly, Fallon has never given anyone the Heimlich Maneuver.
He's not an EMT, he's a van driver with only a basic CPR and first-aid training.
Thankfully, the chunk of food stuck in the woman's throat came up in second.
"It seemed like a lifetime," Fallon said. "We embraced, I gave her a kiss on the top of her head."
She thanked him and drove off and Fallon never got her name.
His good deed, witnessed by only a few.
"This kid deserves all the credit in the world for what he did," Meservey said.
