Waiter Is Hailed as a Hero After Saving Choking Baby
Published: December 7, 2006
Firefighter hopeful Matt Miller has already saved one life, and he hasn’t even started training yet.
Miller, 18, a college student at Polk Community College studying fire science, rescued a choking infant Sunday night at Outback Steakhouse in Lakeland.
The hero, a waiter at the restaurant, had just worked a double shift and was on his way out the door. He turned around to grab a bite to eat before going home. While munching on his meal, he noticed a baby chewing on a crayon.
“At first, I didn’t think anything of it,” he said. “But I noticed he bit the end off of the crayon and started choking.”
He said the mother immediately screamed that her baby was choking. He said she was panicking.
“She was hysterical,” he said. “She had no clue what to do.”
Miller walked over to the table and said he could help. He took the baby and stuck a finger down his throat. He said he was lucky because he swiped the crayon out on the first try.
“With a baby, you can’t really give them the Heimlich maneuver,” he said.
He said the compressions could break an infant’s bones. So the airway needs to be cleared manually.
But Miller may have saved the baby twice. He said sticking a finger down the baby’s throat caused him to vomit. The mother was holding the child with his head back, which was causing him to choke again.
So again, Miller took the baby and held him facedown until the child finished. He said everything happened so fast.
Michael Burns was the server waiting on the child and his family. He said he was impressed by his co-worker.
“I saw a little bit of it,” he said. “I’m happy he has the training to do and the ability to do what he did.”
But Miller, who is just in his first semester, doesn’t start his paramedic training until next semester. He said his mother, who was trained as a paramedic, ran a daycare for some time. So he’s been around kids a lot, he said.
Miller’s mom, Jackie, said she and her husband, David, were impressed by their son’s presence of mind.
“We are so proud of him. … He’s got good instincts, good reflexes. He thinks on his feet.”
Miller said the child’s mother thanked him. But he never got a name. The Ledger was not able to locate the parents, either.
Miller said he was happy to have helped.
“I feel good about it,” he said. “I do. Even though it was a small thing, it did make a difference.”
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