Governor Chris Sununu saves man from choking during New Hampshire lobster eating contest

New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu came to the rescue last weekend by saving the life of a man who began choking during an eating contest.

Christian Moreno started making distress signals on Sunday during the Hampton Beach Lobster Roll Eating Competition.

Sununu said he sprang into action when he saw no one coming to help the man who was beating on his chest.

“The gentleman on the other end, who I was kind of watching — I looked at it, I could see it real quick, he was taking a break — he was having trouble getting anything down on paper,” Sununu said. WMUR-TV.

He continued, “I started saying, ‘He’s choking, he’s choking,’ and I could tell people weren’t responding. So I just went ahead and started giving him a Heimlich right away.”

New Hampshire Republican Governor Chris Sununu took action Sunday after a man began choking during a lobster roll eating contest

Video of the rescue was shared with a local news station and shows the governor of New Hampshire performing the Heimlich maneuver on Moreno. It took five compressions before the blockage from the lobster roll cleared his throat and he could breathe again.

Sununu said the contestant immediately resumed the competition after the incident and ate seven more lobster rolls.

“He went right back to the game, which I couldn’t believe,” Sununu recalled. “He ate seven more lobster rolls after that. Right down his throat.”

Moreno told WMUR-TV that it was his first eating contest on Sunday and that it wasn’t until after the contest was over and he put his glasses back on that he realized it was the governor who had saved his life.

Christian Moreno went on to eat seven more lobster rolls after Sununu successfully performed the Heimlich maneuver, he recounted the events to WMUR-TV

Moreno said it was only after the match that he realized it was the governor who had saved his life.

“And lo and behold, the governor was the first to notice what was really happening,” Moreno said.

“My counter came up to me and made a joke. And said something like, ‘Oh, I bet no one else can say they’ve ever gotten the Heimlich from the governor.’ And I looked at him and I was like, that was, that was the governor?'” He recounted the events after the game.

Moreno said that when he started choking, he told himself, “Don’t panic,” and that he knew he would “get this out” and “continue” in the competition.

The lobster roll-eating contestant said he wants to come back next year for “redemption.”