iStock/Thinkstock(MICHIGAN CITY, Ind.) — A routine traffic stop turned into the opportunity to save a life for an Indiana sheriff’s deputy Tuesday morning.
La Porte County Deputy Austin Wells pulled a driver over near Michigan City Tuesday morning for speeding when he realized the woman was choking, ABC station WLS reported.
“I was kind of in shock, to be honest with you. I have made hundreds of traffic stops,” Wells told reporters during a press conference Wednesday, WLS reported.
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Wells said he was traveling southbound when he clocked a vehicle traveling in the other direction at 70 miles per hour in a 45 mile-per-hour zone.
After pulling over the woman for speeding, Wells said he noticed she was struggling to breathe.
“The driver had a very deep reddish, almost purple look in her face and her lips were a little blue tint,” Wells said. “She kept making a couple of gestures towards me that she was unable to breathe.”
Wells said he pulled the woman, 65, from her car and performed the Heimlich maneuver and dislodged “what ended up being a honey mustard nut from her airway.”
“She was very thankful. She just kept repeating, ‘Thank you, thank you.’ She was very scared and I would have been too if I was in that situation,” he added.
When paramedics arrived, Wells said the woman refused medical treatment and continued on her way.
When asked if he felt like a hero, Wells said: “I feel like I was just doing my job and I was happy I was in the right place at the right time. It felt a lot better than issuing a citation or a warning, that’s for sure.”
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