As chief steward of AFGE Local 589, Patrick Freeman’s job is to make G.V. (Sonny) Montgomery VA Medical Center a better place to work for his coworkers. But a few months ago, he got to do something even more extraordinary: he saved a life.
Freeman, a health technician in the podiatry clinic, was visiting a coworker on the first floor of the hospital and walked by a primary care clinic where Kim Dixon was choking on her lunch.
Dixon, a nurse, went to the bathroom and tried to dislodge the piece of food in her throat but couldn’t. She came back and ran straight to Freeman, her face turning blue.
“I can’t breathe,” she told him, putting her hands up in the air. The room was full of other nurses, doctors, clerks. Dixon was about to pass out.
Freeman, a former Navy nurse, immediately grabbed her, did the Heimlich Maneuver, and popped the piece of food out. Dixon survived. She now gives him a hug every time she sees him.
Asked how he felt after saving his coworker’s life, he said, “I didn’t want to look at it like that. I was just doing what I’ve been trained to do for 30 some plus years. It was just a natural reaction for me because inaction could cause somebody to lose their lives, so you have to act quick.”
His heroic act was recognized both by the VA and AFGE.
The VA medical center provided Freeman an appreciation award signed by Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker. AFGE National President Everett Kelley presented him a Hero Award.
We thank Chief Steward Freeman for his quick thinking which helped a colleague in need.
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