PORTLAND – A Cumberland County Jail inmate is being credited with saving another inmate’s life by performing the Heimlich maneuver.

Ronald Thurston III and George Wing were eating lunch Thursday with about 22 other inmates in a pod when Thurston jumped up and ran to the bathroom. As Wing returned his tray, he saw that the bathroom door was ajar and inside was Thurston, his face turning purple.

Wing, who says he once performed the Heimlich maneuver on an elderly person when he was a personal care attendant, dislodged the hot dog that Thurston was choking on.

“It was basically luck that I was right there,” he said. “Right place, right time.”

Not many people say that about jail, but Wing, who has 30 days left to serve on a probation violation after being convicted of theft, said the experience made him philosophical.

“I was pretty bummed out I was here, but I think everything happens for a reason,” he said. “It’s kind of changing my outlook on it.”

Sheriff Kevin Joyce praised Wing’s quick thinking.

“I shook his hand and told him, ‘I’ll be the first one to tell you when you’re doing wrong. I’ll also be the first to tell you when you do right.’ “

 

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