Mich. police officer saves choking woman during traffic stop

Updated
Mich. Police Officer Saves Choking Woman During Traffic Stop
Mich. Police Officer Saves Choking Woman During Traffic Stop


A Michigan police officer went above the call of duty earlier this week after he rescued a choking woman during a routine traffic stop.



His dash cam caught the whole thing on video.

ABC reports: Officer Jason Gates pulled the woman's vehicle over after she ran a red light. When he approached the window, he saw that she was choking. You see that he there pulls her out and immediately performs the Heimlich maneuver.

Officer Gates told MLive.com he stopped the unidentified woman late Saturday morning. And as he approached her car, he says he could see she was having trouble breathing.

As you can see from the footage obtained by MLive.com, he immediately rushed to her side to help, performing a vigorous Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food in her throat. Afterward, you can hear her cry out with relief as she hugs him.

If you check out the rest of that dramatic footage, you can see the woman fall back into the driver's seat as Gates comforts her. After news broke of Gates' impressive save, many news outlets were quick to praise him.

However, a modest Gates told WXMI he doesn't think he deserves all this attention.

Officer Jason Gates: "For the first second or so, I thought she might be just trying to get out of a ticket. But then I realized she was in legit respiratory distress. I'm just glad for her that I was there and that it worked."

Gates says the woman didn't request any further medical attention after the stop, and he hasn't heard from her since. Oh, and in case you were wondering, he didn't end up giving her a ticket.

Related:
Officers in the News
Good Cop, Bad Cop
Let's Be Cops
First Aid Preparation
How to Help A Choking Victim
Police Violence

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