Customer thanks Lancaster bar manager for saving her life

Photo Neil Cross
Michele Bicknell delivering flowers to Tim Tomlinson and the White Cross pub staff after her life was saved by a quick thinking worker — Photo Neil Cross Michele Bicknell delivering flowers to Tim Tomlinson and the White Cross pub staff after her life was saved by a quick thinking worker

Lancaster bar manager saves life of choking diner

Michele Bicknell, a library assistant at Lancaster library, was out for a meal with colleagues at The White Cross pub in the city, when a piece of pork became lodged in her throat.

She went to the ladies toilet to try and clear it, but things soon became critical when she lost consciousness and hit her head on the toilet seat. Thankfully, former bar manager Nicole Sherlock, who left the pub last week to teach English in Spain, was in the right place at the right time, and heard Michele struggling in the locked toilet cubicle.

Nicole, 27, laid down on the floor and reached under the 30cm gap and managed to get Michele into the recovery position from the outside of the cubicle, at which point Michele vomited and regained consciousness.

Michele said the incident on December 27 left her coughing up blood the day after, but there was no lasting damage.

She said: “We had eaten our first course, and came to the main course, and I had ordered a piece of pork.

“But I got a piece stuck in my throat.

“I tried to clear it myself with water, but realised I couldn’t.

“I walked to the ladies’ toilets, and all I remember is trying to get it out.

“Appararently I lost consciousness and hit my head on the toilet seat.

“I’ve got a big bruise on my head.

“Some people passed me by and thought I was drunk.

“They just walked on by, but thankfully that bar manager was there.

“She literally saved my life.

“I just want to say a big thankyou to Nicole.”

Tim Tomlinson, landlord at The White Cross, received a bouquet of flowers from Michele on behalf of Nicole.