Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider showcased some mid-day heroics after potentially saving a woman’s life while out having lunch with his wife.
The recently-promoted first-year manager was having lunch at a local restaurant when a woman there began choking on a shrimp. Schneider saw that everyone else was hesitant to help her, which prompted him to try to assist her.
How Did Toronto Blue Jays Manager John Schneider Save Woman From Choking?
Schneider approached the woman and began performing the Heimlich maneuver on the woman, and the shrimp came up. While it wasn’t anything dramatic like in the movies, Schneider said “It just came up naturally I guess,” he said. “But it wasn’t like popping a bottle of champagne,” according to SportsNet.
“Right place, right time,” Schneider said Sunday. “I was just enjoying lunch with [wife] Jess. You either help or you don’t and I decided I’d go over and see if I could help.” Schneider told SportsNet.
The situation happened at a local restaurant that was a little less than 2 miles from the Blue Jays’ training complex. But for someone who just had her life saved, she was very calm and organic about the whole situation.
“It’s not like you’re looking for a pat on the back,” Schneider said. “She said, ‘Thank you,’ and carried on with her meal with her friends. We kind of just said: ‘See you later.’ Again, I wasn’t looking for a big compliment. I think I was a little bit more rattled than she was.” according to MLB.com
Schneider himself wasn’t as stoic about the ordeal as the woman, but in the heat of the moment when he was trying to help, he handled the situation like any professional leader would. If his quick reactions in the heat of a stressful and potential life-threatening moment are any indication, Schneider will be able to make shrewd decisions as a manager for the talent-laden Blue Jays who are trying to get over the hump and surpass the Yankees in the American League East this season.
Toronto Blue Jays Manager Is A Cool Customer
When speaking to The Athletic, Schneider’s wife, Jess, spoke about his calm and how he approached the entire situation.
“He gracefully gets up, doesn’t panic,” she said. “The way he held his cool, you would have thought he was managing a wild-card game. It was so graceful.”
Schneider Learned Heimlich Maneuver In The Sixth Grade
As for the Heimlich maneuver Schneider performed on her, he hasn’t done that since Sixth grade when he learned it in class. But that didn’t stop him from effectively utilizing the life-saving move.
“I learned it in about sixth grade and hadn’t thought about it since,” Schneider said, “so it was like, ‘I think I remember how to do this?’ I’m a bigger guy, so I think that helped a little bit. But no, I hadn’t thought about the Heimlich maneuver since grade six.” Schneider told the MLB.
It seems things worked out pretty well in the end, and Schneider, the people’s champ, was rewarded with the ultimate gift, a nice cold beer, on the house, of course.
Can Schneider Get Blue Jays Over Championship Hump?
Schneider will look to do the same for his team and give them new life that can lift them over the hump and into championship contention. Toronto hasn’t reached the World Series since winning back-to-back championships in 1992-93. With a star the magnitude of Vlad Guerrero Jr. leading a talented bunch, the expectations for this season are high. After he was promoted from bench coach to interim manager last July, they removed the interim designation from his title, making him the full-time manager, as well as signing him to a three-year extension that has a team option in 2026.
The Blue Jays were 92-70 last year, having split their season between former manager Charlie Montoyo who led the Blue Jays to a mediocre 46-42, and then finished their second half of the season off with Schneider who had a much better 46-28 record as the team’s manager.
Now that Schneider is at the helm of the team, he will look to Heimlich maneuver his team to their first championship since their back-to-back championships in 1992 and ’93.
