Posted July 1, 2026
Five-year-old Sophia was at a family Fourth of July cookout when she took a bite of her hot dog and went quiet. A piece of sausage had lodged completely in her airway, and she couldn't cough, cry, or breathe.
Her grandma Linda jumped into action — back blows, then the Heimlich, but nothing moved. In a panic, she remembered the Mumany unit her daughter had given her for Christmas, stored in the kitchen cabinet above the stove.
On the second pull, the sausage dislodged. Paramedics who arrived minutes later said the family had bought themselves critical minutes. Sophia went back to eating ice cream that evening like nothing had happened.
"We all think choking happens to someone else," Linda said. "Now I tell every grandparent I know: keep one where you can grab it, not where you have to look for it."