Watch: Republican Gov. Chris Sununu Steps in to Save Choking Man at Eating Contest
During a lobster roll eating competition in New Hampshire, Governor Chris Sununu jumped into action when a contestant, Christian Moreno, began to choke. After noticing Moreno struggling to breathe, Sununu performed the Heimlich maneuver to help dislodge the food obstructing his airway. Despite the chaotic scene, Moreno remained calm and continued participating in the contest after the incident, eating an impressive additional seven lobster rolls. Sununu, who is in his fourth term as governor and has announced he will not seek re-election, became both a local hero and a focus of media attention for his quick response during the crisis.
Chris Sununu might not always be right when it comes to politics.
But when a crisis hit Sunday during a competitive eating competition in his home state of New Hampshire, he was the right man at the right time.
According to WMUR-TV in Manchester, the New Hampshire governor was at a lobster roll eating competition at Hampton Beach when he saw one of the contestants was in trouble.
The contestant, identified as Christian Moreno, “began to signal for help, tapping on his chest and looking to get the stuck piece of lobster out of his windpipe as he began to struggle to breathe,” WMUR reported.
“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,” Sununu told the station.
Sununu immediately got involved, performing the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the food, WMUR reported. First responders on the scene also helped, according to the station.
“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 told WMUR.
The WMUR report is below:
Moreno, who was making his debut in speed eating, according to WMUR, apparently took the crisis in stride.
“Lo and behold, the governor was the first one to notice what was actually happening,” Moreno told WMUR. “[I] was just kind of like, ‘All right, like, don’t freak out. You’re gonna, like, you’re gonna get this out, and you’re gonna keep going.’”
And keep going he did, though he didn’t win, according to ABC News.
“He went right back to the contest, which I couldn’t believe. He ate another seven lobster rolls after that,” Sununu told WMUR. “Right down the gullet.”
Sununu, now in his fourth two-year term as head of the Granite State government, is the son of former New Hampshire Gov. John Sununu, who also served as President George H.W. Bush’s White House chief of staff.
He announced last year that he would not be seeking re-election this year. (His successor will be chosen in November. New Hampshire voters go to the polls in primaries Tuesday, Fox News reported.)
The younger Sununu is probably best known recently for being one of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s most prominent supporters in her failed bid to challenge former President Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.
However, when Haley ended her campaign, Sununu said he would back Trump as the party’s nominee, CNN reported in March. (Haley herself didn’t announce her support for Trump until late May.)
So, he might have been a little late when it comes to presidential politics this year, but on Sunday, he was right on time.
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