DeRiggi-Whitton Performs Heimlich Maneuver, Saves Life

Glen Cove Councilwoman saved the life of a Greenvale Wells Fargo employee on Tuesday.

DeReggi Whitton – who recently began her bid for Nassau Legislature on the Democratic ticket – performed the Heimlich Maneuver on a male employee at the Wells Fargo on Northern Boulevard after noticing the man was choking on a pretzel.

DeRiggi-Whitton said she first noticed the man, who declined to give his name,  slouched over his computer and then noticed the bag of pretzels.

“His airway was completely blocked,” she said. “He was not breathing at all.”

DeRiggi-Whitton said that she had to perform the maneuver twice on the man: "The first time, it didn't work. There was no breath. He was completely limp," she said. "The second time, he made a hiccup sound and started to cough."

While witnesses at the bank called an ambulance, it took responders approximately 10 minutes to arrive to at the scene, DeRiggi-Whitton said.

DeRiggi-Whitton said there is one message she hopes residents take away from Tuesday’s incident: the importance of learning lifesaving maneuvers.

“I took a CPR course when I worked at , and this is the second time I had to use it,” she said. “So that’s the message. I was lucky. The course was like an hour, and in n my regular day to day life, I’ve used it on two different occasions.”

The male employee was transported to a local hosptial.