Waiter saves Lake Zurich official from choking

Jolene Bowling thought she was going to have a heart attack.

After all, she suffered one four months ago.

The 48-year-old Lake Zurich plan commissioner choked after having a cocktail and appetizers with friends Tuesday at Max & Erma's restaurant in Deer Park.

Bowling ate a small piece of steak and had a gulp of coffee. Suddenly, she couldn't breathe. She couldn't cough or swallow.

"I was freaking out," Bowling recalled Wednesday.

Friends asked if she was OK and offered to call 911. Bowling ran out of the restaurant in fright.

"I was absolutely panicking," she said. "The one thing they tell you after you've had a heart attack is, 'don't hold your breath.' I just kept trying to gulp air and I couldn't."

Lucky for Bowling, a restaurant server who had heard what happened followed her outside and applied the Heimlich maneuver three times.

"That kid was so calm, he calmed me down," Bowling said. "He was the only one there that actually knew what to do. And then I was absolutely fine."

The server was Eddie Maher, 20, of Palatine. Maher learned to do the Heimlich maneuver in middle school.

"I remembered it ever since," he said.

The maneuver, which involves performing a series of abdominal thrusts under the diaphragm, is recommended by the American Heart Association to clear the blocked airway of someone choking.

The procedure forces enough air from the victim to create an artificial cough that would dislodge any foreign objects.

Maher had performed the maneuver only once before on himself. He wasn't sure it would work on Bowling after the first attempt failed.

"I was kind of iffy at first but I still proceeded anyway because I knew she was choking," he said. "I feel very good. She was very thankful."

Maher said he earned a pat on the back from his manager who informed company superiors of the deed.