BULVERDE, Texas - Lunch break at the Country Hills Veterinary Clinic in Bulverde is typically a time for workers to unwind from the hustle and bustle during normal business hours. But when Belinda Giles, a vet tech at the clinic, ate a brisket plate last December, the calm turned into chaos.
Ryan Wolf with some Cash for Kindness.
“My lips were already starting to turn blue," she told Fox San Antonio’s Ryan Wolf.
Office surveillance video captured the frightening ordeal. It showed Giles starting to choke on the bottom right portion of the screen.
“I was starting to panic," she recalled.
She remembered being completely taken over by fear. She was unable to breathe. Giles desperately threw her hands in the air and pointed to her throat, as seen on video. Lead Vet Tech Lindsay Davis was eating her lunch near Giles when she spotted her coworker in trouble.
She walked toward her and is seen performing the Heimlich maneuver. She gave her 3 thrusts from behind. It worked. The meat became dislodged in Giles throat.
Davis comforted her for nearly 30 seconds by rubbing her back. Then she can be seen walking a few steps away and slumping over on camera. It was an apparent sigh of relief.
Giles secretly nominated her hero for the CASH FOR KINDNESS award. The office manager helped with the surprise. Wolf met Jordan in the front lobby of the clinic.
“So [Davis] she has no idea, right?” Wolf asked.
“No idea,” the manager said with a smile.
“Okay,” Wolf acknowledged.
“Let’s say I'm doing a story on vet care,” Wolf told Jordan. “And maybe call like a quick team meeting?”
Jordan smile and said, “Sure!"
While he gathered about a dozen office workers, Wolf stood by in the lobby. They all walked into the area about a minute or two later. Wolf thanked everyone for helping with the “story”.
“What is your name?” Wolf asked a worker closest to him and Giles.
“Lindsay,” she responded.
“What do you like about the team?” Wolf asked her.
“We get along very well,” she said. “We all love the animals. We all put 100% effort and everything we do.”
“What about your coworkers?” Wolf asked next. “How do you feel about them?”
“I love them,” she said next.
“How long have you been here?” Wolf asked to keep the surprise going.
“Five years,” Davis said.
“Anything interesting ever happened in the five years here?” Wolf said.
“Oh, we see all kinds of animals,” she answered.
“Well, I'm not really interested in the animals,” Wolf laughed.
Davis raised her eyebrows in shock.
“I'm here because of you,” Wolf said as everyone around her started to laugh.
“You saved my life,” Giles told her when Wolf shared the real reason why he was there. “I was choking. You saved my life. You jumped in and you did the Heimlich. And here I am today. So, I want everyone in San Antonio and surrounding counties to know how special you are to me and our team."
Wolf asked Davis if she remembered her heroic actions and if she could share her experience with everyone.
“I watched her walk-by and I was like, you're not acting correctly,” she recalled. “So, I was monitoring her. And then she turns around, and she throws her hands up and I thought, I gotta do this really quickly. And then I just did the Heimlich.”
“Had you ever done the Heimlich before?” Wolf asked.
“No,” she responded.
“So, what was that like for you?” Wolf asked.
“I was very scared,” she said without any hesitation. “Yeah, I was really hoping that it was going to come out."
Wolf turned to everyone in the lobby and asked if they thought Davis deserved an award for quick-thinking?
They all shouted, “yes!”
Wolf pulled out a stack of $100 bills from his pocket.
“This is on behalf of Fox San Antonio,” he said to her. “This is yours."
Davis counted the money.
“$100, $200, $300, $400, $500 Thank you very much."
Davis and Giles hugged after the surprise.
“She's a superhero to me,” Giles said about her savior. “Definitely a superhero for me.”