New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu was among those who helped save the life of Christian Moreno, who choked on a roll at his first competitive eating contest. Sununu attempted the Heimlich maneuver on him until a paramedic took over at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival on Sunday. The food was dislodged and Moreno returned immediately to stuffing himself with lobster.
He said Monday he was grateful for the governor's actions. "He wasted no time in stepping in and trying to remedy the situation and making sure that others were aware," Moreno said. Sununu said it was the first time he'd performed the maneuver, which is also known as abdominal thrusts. "I'm just glad I paid attention in my high school health class," the Republican governor said in a statement.
Moreno, given 10 minutes to eat as much lobster as he could, got into trouble after standing up to avoid the uncomfortable stool provided. Stuffing his maw, he realized it wasn't going down anymore: "I was so hyper-focused on how I was standing or sitting that I was not chewing," he told ABC News. "So I tried to wash it down with some water and it ended up getting stuck. And so I was just trying to make sure to stay calm."
Moreno lost two minutes of competitive eating time to the rogue roll and placed fourth.
Previously:
• How to catch a lobster with a tickle stick
• Twenty years later, Red Lobster still shudders at the thought of its all-you-can-eat snow crab legs disaster
• Man keeps grocery store lobster as a pet
