Dear Chief Mathis,

My name is Julia Doran. I along with my husband John and three children have been neighbors of Bob Quirk and his family for about six years now. Our daughters have become best friends and we have always enjoyed having Bob and his family as our friends and neighbors.

I am writing this email today because I wanted to let you know of the events that transpired this past Friday, February 3, 2012.

My husband John and I and our 9-year-old son, Jonathan, had just sat down to eat take-out chicken at about 6:30pm. My husband took a bite out of his chicken and began to cough, which was not unusual to me as he had a bad cold for the past couple of weeks.

John proceeded to get up from the table and go into the kitchen. After a few seconds passed, I heard him begin to gag, I went into the kitchen and John had himself bent forward over the kitchen sink, I asked him if he was okay, and he didn't respond. At that point, I had realized he was choking on what must have been a chicken bone. As I looked closer at his face, I noticed he was starting to turn purple and instructed my son to run next door and get Bob, while I called 911.

Less than two minutes later, Bob came running in, asked what was going on and immediately went to John. He checked for any sign of breathing, but there was none. He lifted John in an upright position and administered the Heimlich Maneuver. This moved the bone out of John's airway enough that he was able to get some air and his color started to return and he began to breath again. A few seconds later the Hillsborugh Police arrived and then about another minute after that, the ambulance arrived.

We are convinced that Bob saved John's life Friday night. Had it not been for his quick response and his calm professional assesment and reaction to the situation, John would have been forced to wait for the ambulance which did not arrive until at least 2 minutes after Bob got there. According to the Emergenecy Room physician, since John is 51 years old, there is a world of difference between him being unconscious for 1-2 minutes than him being unconscious for 2-4 minutes.

Needless to say, our family is eternally grateful to Bob and are very proud to be his neighbor. In our eyes he is truly a hero. I don't know what your departmental procedure is, but if there is an award or commendation given to your employees for heroic acts, Bob Quirk is truly deserving!

Thank you for your time.

Sicnerely,
Julia & John Doran