'My friend saved me when I nearly choked to death'

A woman has spoken about how her friend saved her life when she choked on a fish bone while on a trip.

Leslie Sinoway, 54, from St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, was eating sea bass in a gastropub in Totnes, Devon, when the bone became lodged in her throat.

Her friend Lucy Rhoades realised something was wrong and delivered back blows, dislodging the bone.

"I genuinely thought I was going to die," said Sinoway. "It was horrible."

She added: "I ordered the sea bass. We were all chatting when, all of a sudden, I felt something get caught in my throat and I started coughing.

"I got up and kept coughing, becoming more and more scared.

"Lucy noticed and got up. She asked me if I was OK and I gestured that I wasn't. That's when she started giving me firm back blows[and] a fish bone flew out.

"If anyone would stay calm in a crisis, it would be Lucy."

Rhoades, 55, from Totnes, said her friend was unable to speak and "clearly struggling to breathe".

"I leaned her forward and gave her several back blows between her shoulder blades, and she coughed up a fish bone," she added.

About 300 people die in England every year due to a choking incident, said St John Ambulance as it launched its Save a Life September campaign.

A survey of 2,000 UK adults, conducted by Censuswide on behalf of the charity, found that 19% had never heard of an abdominal thrust, previously referred to as the Heimlich manoeuvre.

And 32% said they did not know choking could become life-threatening in minutes without first aid.

The campaign aims to teach half a million people life-saving skills through free demonstrations and online guidance.

"People can learn simple, life-saving skills that could help them save a loved one, friend, colleague or even a stranger," said Jordan Davison, community education partner at St John Ambulance.

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