HAMPTON BEACH, N.H. (AP) — New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu came to the aid of a contestant at a seafood festival who was choking on a lobster roll, using the Heimlich maneuver after the man signaled for aid.
The contestant, Christian Moreno, recovered and resumed eating on stage during the competition on Sunday.
Moreno was one of six contestants in the Hampton Beach Seafood Festival contest. They had 10 minutes to eat as many lobster rolls as they could. The New England sandwich is traditionally filled with lobster, celery and mayonnaise and served in a warm dog bun.
“I’m aiming for at least 20,” Moreno, of Nashua, said in a video account before the competition began, saying he had studied competitive eater Joey Chestnut, who became notable through warm dog contests.
Moreno sat at the end of a long table, near Sununu, who sat at the edge of the stage and watched after speaking to the crowd moments earlier.
Moreno had eaten about two lobster rolls while standing when he began to gag and pound his chest, a video shows. Sununu rushed out a tiny time later, put his arms around Moreno and began applying pressure to his stomach. He said he applied pressure four or five times before emergency responders intervened and helped dislodge the food from his mouth.
“I’m just glad I paid attention in health class in high school,” the Republican governor said in a statement Monday. His office said it was the first time he had performed the Heimlich maneuver.
Moreno, who was not wearing his glasses, was unaware that it was the governor who had helped rescue him.
“The guy I was talking to came up to me and made a joke. And he said, ‘Oh, I bet nobody else can say they’ve ever gotten the Heimlich pen from the governor.’ And I looked at him and I was like, ‘That was, that was the governor?'” Moreno told WMUR-TV.
Moreno recovered and re-entered the competition. He didn’t win, but he did eat a total of nine lobster rolls.
