Saved: runner who choked on rock

Published: September 16, 2003 | 168th good news item since 2003

A university cross-country coach probably saved an opposing runner’s life when he dislodged a stone that got stuck in her throat at a weekend race.

“I knew she was in trouble because she turned pure white,” said Mark McClure, a first-year coach in Bowling Green, Ohio.

The runner, Jamie Luketic, was behind a pack of runners on Saturday when one of the runners kicked up a stone. It flew right into her mouth.

She ran a few steps, then dropped to her knees.

McClure ran over to help, but he had no idea what was wrong. Luketic stammered out in a whisper the word “rock” and pointed at her throat, McClure said.

“I was trying to think how a rock would get in her throat,” he said.

McClure pushed on her back and her stomach and the stone “flew (out) about 2.5m”.

Published in Rescues
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