New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu jumped into action on Sunday to save a man who began choking during a lobster roll eating contest.
Sununu was attending the Hampton Beach Lobster Roll Eating Competition in Hampton, New Hampshire, when one contestant on the end of the stage began pounding his chest as he consumed the famed New England delicacy.
“The gentleman at the far end, who I was kind of watching — I glanced over, I could tell very quickly, he took, took a pause — he was having trouble getting something down,” Sununu told WMUR-TV.
The contestant, Christian Moreno, told the station that the governor was the first person to notice he was choking.
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“My counter came up to me and, like, made a joke. And was like, ‘Oh, like, I bet nobody else can say that they’ve gotten the Heimlich from the governor before.’ And I looked at him, was just like, that was, that was the governor?” Moreno said.
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The Republican governor said jumping in to help as the contest was ongoing was “wild in itself,” and added that what happened after clearing Moreno’s windpipe was even more surprising.
“He went right back to the contest, which I couldn’t believe. He ate another seven lobster rolls after that,” Sununu told the outlet. “Right down the gullet.”
Moreno said he plans to return to the contest next year for redemption.
