It's a bird! It's a plane! It's ... first-year College student Joe Riley?
Although he may not be a superhero, and although he only recently landed on Grounds, Riley has already proven to be quite the savior for some local community members, assisting in two different medical emergencies in the past two weeks.
On Sept. 23, Riley was having lunch at the College Inn with Economics Prof. Kenneth Elzinga, fellow first-year College student Virginia Hawkins and a friend of Elzinga's, when Riley helped save a woman who was choking, Hawkins said.
"All of a sudden we heard a woman making choking noises, she was at the table behind us," Hawkins said. "It was very clear she wasn't breathing."
While patrons at the restaurant called medical officials, another patron unsuccessfully attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver on the choking woman, Hawkins said.
"Mr. Elzinga asked if I knew how to do the Heimlich," Riley said. "I didn't know but I had seen it done once. Mr. Elzinga said, 'I'll pray if you try' ... I [then] got up and gave a couple of pumps and the food popped out and she was able to breath again."
Although the incident happened quickly, it left an impression, Hawkins said.
"There was not a moment where I thought, 'Wow, this woman might die'... until afterwards," Hawkins said.
Riley said the woman was in shock at first.
"She told me, 'You saved my life'," Riley said. "I would like to think she wouldn't have died if I had not acted, but it was a dangerous situation and I'm very thankful that she's alright."
Emergency medical technicians arrived at the restaurant about five minutes later, Riley said. The woman, however, did not need any additional medical attention.
A few days later on Oct. 2, Riley found himself in the same situation, this time on Grounds when a woman collapsed during his politics lecture taught by politics Prof. James Ceasar.
"Nobody reacted so I went to the back of the room," Riley said.
He noticed she was breathing shallowly but had a steady pulse, so he opened her mouth to increase airflow, tilted her head back and splashed water on her face.
Soon after, she regained consciousness but was slightly nauseous.
About 10 minutes later, Riley said, emergency medical technicians arrived, gave the woman oxygen and took her to the hospital for additional care.
Riley said he has never received any formal medical training, but noted that he has gained a general knowledge of emergency medical responses courtesy of his father, who is a physician.
"I've seen a couple of different instances where he has had to respond to situations," Riley said.
Although Riley's quick responses to these incidents may seem heroic to some, Riley said he would like to think of his reactions as any good citizen's.
"It's the good Samaritan thing to do," he said. "I don't see it as being heroic ... I saw somebody in need and did what I could to help them"
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