Ciao! Sono tornato da Roma

Hi guys, ciao! I am sorry for the radio silence. I have gotten back from Rome last night and it has been a frantic time since I got back - you know what it is like when you've been away for a while, there's so much I wanna catch up with but mostly sleep! Rome was exhausting and I feel like I want to have a few days in bed now that I am home just to recover from my trip. But oh no, first day back and I went to an event early in the morning, then caught up with an old friend who wanted to buy me lunch (oh yes please, I like old friends who buy me lunch) and ended up hanging out with him till it was time to go to the gym in the evening (where I caught up with more friends). I have plenty I want to blog about, to share my Roman holiday experience with you, but I will need to find time in the coming week to do so.

The Colosseum in Rome

On a more disturbing note, I want to share with you a really scary incident that happened when I was at London Gatwick airport upon my return from Rome. One of the members of staff at passport control was chewing gum whilst he was working - his job was to direct the passengers to the right queues at passport control. There are three different queues depending on what kind of passport you hold and he was shouting out instructions whilst chewing gum. Suddenly, I heard him collapse to the ground whilst gasping for air and coughing violently. It seems like he had accidentally choked on his chewing gum and it must have gone down his windpipe. A passenger with an American accent screamed, "Help! Is there a doctor around? This man needs help!" A few staff members rushed towards the man and one asked another colleague to call for a doctor. And several people ran forward to help but we were turned away as we were not doctors. Someone said, "you need to let me perform the Heimlich manoeuvre to clear his airway" but the member of staff told us, "it is okay, someone has called for help and help is on the way, a doctor is coming." In the meantime, that choking man was lying in total agony on the floor and none of his colleagues knew what to do.

Help arrived soon enough for the choking man (it was probably a few minutes but in the manic confusion, it felt like hours). I felt irked by the fact that some of his colleagues were more interested in directing the passengers away from the choking man rather than helping the man whose life may have been in danger if the choking was severe.They brought out some temporary hoardings to block the man from sight and we were ushered through passport control as they didn't want people to hang around to watch. I checked the news today and there was no report of anyone dying of choking at Gatwick Airport, so I hope the man is alright. But please dear readers, familiarize yourself with the Heimlich manoeuvre - it is so simple and whilst it may not always work, when you are faced with a person choking so severely, the least you can do is try to help by doing something. I can't tell you not to chew gum or talk when you're eating (like, how many of us talk during a meal) and most of the time, we are able to do so without incident. But please, if you can at least have the knowledge of how to perform the Heimlich manoeuvre, then you could save someone's life one day.