Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider learned the Heimlich maneuver when he was in the sixth grade. A few decades later, that lesson helped him save a life.
Schneider was recently out to lunch with his wife at Clear Sky Draught Haus, which is a restaurant located near the Blue Jays' spring training facility in Dunedin, Florida, when a woman at another table began choking on shrimp and couldn't breathe.
After realizing that no one at the woman's table knew what to do, the 43-year-old skipper rushed over to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her. Schneider was able to dislodge the shrimp and save the woman's life.
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“I learned [the Heimlich maneuver] in about sixth grade and hadn’t thought about it since,” Schneider said, via MLB.com. "So it was like, ‘I think I remember how to do this?’ I’m a bigger guy, so I think that helped a little bit. But no, I hadn’t thought about the Heimlich maneuver since Grade 6.”
After the scary scene, the woman thanked Schneider before the two returned to their respective meals. Schneider said the woman and her party weren't aware who he was.
“It’s not like you’re looking for a pat on the back,” Schneider said. “She said thank you and carried on with her meal with her friends. We kind of just said, ‘See you later.’ Again, I wasn’t looking for a big compliment. I think I was a little bit more rattled than she was.”
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While Schneider wasn't looking for any praise, the restaurant did reward him for his heroics with a free beer.
“I was a little bit rattled afterward,” Schneider said. “So the beer did come in handy."
Schneider is entering his first season as a full-time MLB manager. He took over as Toronto's interim manager last July after Charlie Montoyo was fired. The Blue Jays went 46-28 and earned the American League's top wild card spot with Schneider at the helm.
