N.H. Gov. Chris Sununu Saves Choking Contestant at Lobster Roll Eating Competition: ‘People Weren’t Responding’
“He ate another seven lobster rolls after that,” Sununu told a local news station
Scott Eisen/Getty
New Hampshire Gov. Chris SununuNew Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu gave one of his constituents a helping hand over the weekend while attending a lobster roll eating competition.
Local outlet WMUR-TV captured footage of the chaotic incident on Sunday, Sept. 8, which showed the governor, 49, onstage at the Hampton Beach Lobster Roll Eating Competition as the contestants began chowing down.
Sununu told the outlet that he noticed one participant at the competition, held about 50 miles outside of Concord, having issues.
"The gentleman at the far end, who I was kind of watching — I glanced over, I could tell very quickly, he took, took a pause — he was having trouble getting something down," the politician said.
Related: The Many, Many Musicians Who Have Told Politicians to Stop Using Their Songs
Contestant Christian Moreno, who was choking on a lobster roll, reportedly began signaling for help by hitting his chest.
Sununu recalled, "I started saying, 'He's choking, he's choking,' and I could tell people weren't responding. So I just moved forward and immediately started to kind of give him the Heimlich."
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
In the video, the governor can be seen moving over to Moreno to help him get the food out of his throat, performing four moves before an EMT jumped in to finish the job to help Moreno breathe again. "It was crazy because it wasn't so much the jumping in and doing it — I mean, that was wild in itself — but there was so much commotion," Sununu said.
Moreno also spoke to WMUR, telling the local station that all he could think about in the moment was not choking — and finishing the contest.
"Lo and behold, the governor was the first one to notice what was actually happening," Moreno told the outlet. "(I) was just kind of like, 'All right, like, don't freak out. You're gonna get this out, and you're gonna keep going.'"
He "went right back to the contest," Sununu said, "which I couldn't believe. He ate another seven lobster rolls after that. Right down the gullet."
Moreno didn't even realize who had helped him as he was choking.
"My counter came up to me and, like, made a joke. And was like, 'Oh, like, I bet nobody else can say that they've gotten the Heimlich from the governor before,' ” Moreno said. “And I looked at him, was just like, ‘That was, that was the governor?’ "
Related: Malia Obama Makes Rare Red Carpet Appearance at French Film Festival: ‘A Little Bit Terrified’
Although Moreno didn't win the competition — which had a 1st place prize of $600 — the competitor shared a post to Facebook after the incident, joking that his followers should check out his interview about it on TV.
"Tune in to WMUR-TV @ 11pm to see Governor Chris Sununu save my life in tandem with a paramedic at the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival today 😂," he captioned the post alongside a photo of himself posing with the governor. "Remember to chew your food everybody 🦞."
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.
