Bangor restaurant worker Sheakh Rifat has been hailed as a hero after saving the life of one of his customers, when he choked on some food and was unable to breathe.

 

 

Rifat was working at the Bangor Tandoori Restaurant on Bangor High Street when customer Jake Snelling began choking. He quickly noticed there was a problem and immediately stepped in to help.

Jake began struggling to breathe and his friends thought he had indigestion, but Rifat realised the situation was much more serious. He stood Jake up and began to perform the ‘Heimlich manoeuvre’ to remove the food blocking Jake’s airway. After a few attempts the food was dislodged and Jake began to breathe again.

The whole sequence of events was recorded on the restaurant’s cctv and has gone viral after being posted on social media. After the incident Jake can be seen taking big gulps of air and bending over his chair. He later pats Rifat on the shoulder and can be seen mouthing “thank you”. The other customers in the restaurant can be seen clapping as Jake thanked Rifat for saving his life.

Talking about the incident Rifat said: “I could see the guest was turning red and struggling and I wanted to help. His friend had been patting him on the back.

“I’ve had no formal training in this, to be honest I remember something like this happening to me and my dad did the same to me.”

Rifat said his actions were also inspired by a cartoon he saw when he was little, he added: “I don’t think really have time to think, I am just so glad he was okay after.

“To me, helping him was one of the greatest moments in my life.”

Restaurant owner Mustakim Raza told North Wales Live: “The customer was choking and what Rifat did was a fantastic act.”

Speaking about the incident to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Jake said: “We just went up to the mountains for the weekend to do some exploring, we were feeling quite proud of ourselves and thought we’d treat ourselves to a curry.

“It was going well, the food was lovely, and then disaster struck.

“I guess I didn’t chew properly, I don’t know, something just got stuck.

“I did know as soon as it happened, I couldn’t breathe at all. I think my friends just didn’t quite understand the severity of the situation.”

“I think at first they thought it was a bit of indigestion but that wasn’t the case.

“I think there definitely was a point of realisation, initially they’re trying to pat me on the back and it wasn’t working and you can see their faces just fall.” He added that he wanted to thank Rifat for saving him.

Jake also posted a review on Trip Advisor about his experience saying: “Food was perfect, service was even better. We were greeted upon arriving and the food came extremely quickly. About halfway through the meal I started choking on my food and the waiter had to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre which saved my life! Can’t recommend this restaurant enough. 10/10″.

Photos: (1) Bangor Tandoori Restaurant owner Mustakim Raza and Rifat (2) The front of house team at Bangor Tandoori