MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee driver recently had an experience that caused him to fear for his life, and he was surprised at whom his benefactor turned out to be.
Jonathan Dodson said it happened as he was delivering a baby gift to a co-worker.
“Another agent that I work with had just had a child, and I was delivering a baby gift over to their home,” Dodson recalled of the March 4 incident.
“As I pulled out on Thompson Lane, my daughter had left some Skittles in my truck. I’m not even a Skittle fan really. But I was like, ‘Hey, I’ll eat some of those,'” he said. “I tried to take a breath and there was nothing going in.”
The father of five, who served as a Marine, was choking.
“I immediately pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the truck. I remember trying to flag people down because I knew … I knew it was bad,” Dodson remembered.
Miles away was Grant DeJean, a father of three, who was heading home from a meeting in Brentwood, Tennessee.
“Since this happened, I often think about all the things that I did that led up to that moment,” recalled DeJean.
On the side of the road, car after car passed Dodson, and the candy wouldn’t dislodge.
“I remember grabbing the back of my truck and just slamming myself into the truck,” he said. “I remember dropping down to my knees and looking at the grass and I’m like, ‘Oh crap, is this how I’m gonna die?'”
After coming upon Dodson, DeJean grabbed him and started performing the Heimlich maneuver.
“When I was doing the Heimlich on him, I was hoping I wasn’t wasting precious time because I have never done that before,” said DeJean, “and then it came up.”
It was pure relief when the candy dislodged. But the story doesn’t end there.
“I remember looking over to my left, and he’s kind of sitting there on his knees looking over at me, and I did like a triple take on like, ‘Wait a minute, I know you!'” Dodson said with a laugh.
Mere acquaintances from the same office are now bonded for life.
“Before it was just there’s a realtor going down the hall that I pass,” said Dodson, “but now it’s like, ‘Hey, there’s that guy saved my life.'”
“My kids think I’m a hero now, and so that’s neat,” DeJean said with a smile.
“You are,” Dodson responded. “God just put him in the right place at the right time to save me. And, you know, I’m thankful to have another day on this earth because of him.”
The two said they learned another lesson through this experience: Neither will ever eat in a car alone again.