A centenarian survived a choking incident while riding in a car with her daughter in Hawaii, thanks to a good Samaritan who jumped into action.
"She started choking, and it sounds like it was a complete airway obstruction," James Ireland, M.D., director of the Honolulu Emergency Services department, where the woman was treated, told Fox News Digital.
"She was not able to move any air at all, so that is a true desperate emergency that really needs immediate action," Ireland added. "They were 10 to 15 minutes from the nearest hospital."
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Ryan Roberts, 45, a ceramics teacher at the Iolani School in Honolulu, was heading home after work with his two sons on March 29 when he noticed a car in the left lane was stopped.
Ryan Roberts is pictured with his sons, Asher and Owen, and his wife, Kira. (Ryan Roberts)
"The passenger door was open, so it was blocking part of the middle lane," Roberts, the man who saved the woman, told Fox News Digital.
The woman, who was reportedly 100 years old, looked panicked, according to Roberts.
"This woman is going to get hurt," Roberts said he told his sons. "She's standing in the middle of the road."
Ireland said a number of good Samaritans had also pulled their cars over to help.
"But this teacher [Roberts] who had just gotten off work and had splashes of paint and clay on him because he works as a ceramics teacher, just springs into action," Ireland explained.
"He just made sure she was OK, thanked the rescuers who came and off he went. Not seeking the limelight, not seeking any accolades."
Roberts said he remembers pulling his car over and running to where the woman was struggling to breathe.
"It turned out to be a daughter trying to help her mother who was choking," Roberts said. "The daughter was kind of frantic and the mother wasn't doing too well at that point. She was gasping, starting to pass out."
The woman had been choking on a cough lozenge, according to Ireland.
Roberts said he reached forth woman, spun her around and administered the Heimlich maneuver "gently" because he was afraid of hurting her – but nothing happened.
Ryan Roberts of Hawaii, (not pictured above) saved a 100-year-old woman who was choking, and administered the Heimlich maneuver. (iStock)
"I tried again a little harder," Roberts said. "I gave her [the Heimlich] a third time pretty good. She coughed quite a bit, some stuff came out and then she started crying. I said, ‘Hey, if you're crying, you're breathing, so stop crying and just concentrate on breathing. You're OK.’"
Roberts said that after he saved the woman, he noticed a driver pulling up who was wearing an official badge.
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"I flagged him down real quick, and it turned out he was an EMS and that was wonderful," Roberts said.
"[Ryan] immediately knew, ‘OK, I've got to do something.’ That's a really unique and special perspective on your role in the world."
Roberts said the daughter of the 100-year-old woman came to give him a thank-you hug.
"I told her, ‘I’m glad everything is OK," Roberts said. "When the fire department pulled up, I didn't think I was needed anymore, so I just ducked out and left."
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The woman who Roberts had saved was taken to the hospital and was in stable condition, according to Ireland. He added that Roberts took off without even leaving his name.
James Ireland, M.D., director of the Honolulu Emergency Services department, said Ryan Roberts assisted in a "true desperate emergency." He said the elderly woman "was not able to move any air at all…and they were 10 to 15 minutes from the nearest hospital." (James Ireland)
"He didn’t need any recognition," Ireland said. "He just made sure she was OK, thanked the rescuers who came and off he went. Not seeking the limelight, not seeking any accolades. But he sure deserves them."
Roberts was, however, had been wearing a shirt with his school logo on it — so, Ireland was able to track him down the next day.
"We have this expression about our school called, ‘One Team’ because we’re very collectivist in terms of our culture," Tim Cottrell, head of school at the Iolani School, told Fox News Digital.
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"We're an all for one, one for all, community and humility is a big part of who we are as a school," he added. "So, somebody like Ryan [Roberts], he's not going to toot his own horn."
This is Ryan Roberts' fifth time saving a live, according to his colleague.
Roberts is part of a legacy of teachers at the Iolani School, Cottrell said.
Roberts' father, Dave Roberts, was the ceramics teacher there and was "one of those incredibly iconic teachers." Roberts' Uncle Steve worked on the grounds crew.
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"Ryan and his father still give evening ceramics courses where alums from 30 years ago will come and take classes," he added.
Ryan Roberts, ceramics teacher at the Iolani School in Honolulu, hangs out in his studio with sons Asher, 10, and Owen, 13. The boys were in the car when Roberts stopped on the side of the road to save a 100-year-old woman who was choking. (Ryan Roberts)
And apparently, this was not Roberts’ first time to save someone’s life — it’s his fifth, Cottrell said.
"He's resuscitated a number of people with CPR. It takes that kind of awareness in those situations to recognize that something was going on, but then he immediately knew, ‘OK, I've got to do something,'" Cottrell said.
He added that all his faculty members are trained in CPR, and they also train students starting in ninth grade.
"I hope his story will inspire others to learn CPR and learn these techniques that you could need at a moment's notice."
In fact, Roberts and his coworkers had renewed their CPR training just two weeks before Roberts had saved the woman on the roadside, according to Cottrell.
Roberts said the experience has turned into a local campaign to become certified in lifesaving skills.
"If you can, you just become a resource to your community," Roberts added
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Ryan Roberts is being recognized by his community after saving a 100-year-old woman on the side of the road, using the Heimlich maneuver. (Ryan Roberts)
Ireland said the city is planning to recognize Roberts with a certificate, honoring him as a good Samaritan.
"Teachers have this innate sense," Ireland said. "There’s something in them that they want to help, they want to serve. I hope his story will inspire others to learn CPR and learn these techniques that you could need at a moment's notice."
Fox News Digital has requested interviews with the 100-year-old woman whom Roberts saved, and the woman's family through Honolulu EMS.
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