As a Medical/Surgical Tele nurse at Chester County Hospital (CCH), Abigail Jewell, RN, BSN, has a wide variety of patients that she attends to on a daily basis and is always ready for any situation that arises. But in early April, when Jewell and her husband Jake arrived at a West Chester café for a late breakfast, she had no idea that would be the day she’d save someone’s life.
They had just placed their orders when suddenly a woman sitting behind them screamed, “Oh my God, he’s choking, he’s not breathing!” Without hesitation, Abigail jumped out of her seat and ran over to help the 91-year-old gentleman who was choking on his pancakes.
Abigail explained to the man that she was a nurse and followed up with a few questions to see if he was responsive. He couldn’t talk and his face turned blue.
Abigail started performing the Heimlich maneuver on the man, while Jake called 911.
When Abigail started to get tired, a bystander offered to step in. As they were switching over, the man coughed into a napkin. Abigail asked him, “Sir, can you say your name?” He looked up at Abigail and said, “Hello!”
She cleared the man’s airway and advised his family that he needed to continuously cough and shouldn’t eat or drink anything until the ambulance came. When EMS arrived, they listened to the man’s lungs and explained to his family the risks of developing pneumonia as well as symptoms to look out for in the upcoming days. “She took care of everything and ended up saving his life,” said Jake.
Fortunately, this was not Abigail’s first lifesaving rodeo. A few months prior, she was on duty when a co-worker choked on a piece of broccoli; again, Abigail came to the rescue by performing the Heimlich maneuver. Her co-worker recovered and returned to work with no issues.
“In helping my co-worker, I was very calm and not scared at all – but this situation at the café was totally different,” Abigail reflects. “My adrenaline was pumping, having just came from the gym, and the fact that he was turning blue and people were screaming, it all had me very scared. So many thoughts were running through my head, but I was happy to see that he ended up being okay.”
After the eventful brunch, Jake reached out to Patient Advocate Aneissa Petronglo to throw his wife a surprise celebration for her numerous lifesaving acts. On the morning of the event, the entire staff of West Wing 2 started gathering around the nurses’ station, as well as Jake, Abigail’s manager, and CCH President & CEO Michael Duncan. Petronglo played a song about a hero to open the celebration and began to explain the reason for the surprise gathering. Jake briefly retold what happened and expressed how thankful he is for all health care professionals, especially over the past few years of the pandemic.
Petronglo then presented Abigail with a balloon and a small gift. “Abby has a true nurse’s heart, giving her whole self to save someone’s life,” she says.