ESPN’s Peter Burns says Mizzou fan ‘saved my life’ after choking incident

There have been plenty of scary situations for TV personalities over the years. The latest comes from Peter Burns, known for his ESPN and SEC Network work (including SEC Now, SEC This Morning, and more). In a Twitter/X thread Monday, Burns discussed how he wound up choking in a Columbia, Missouri restaurant Friday, how three different people unsuccessfully tried the Heimlich maneuver on him, how he was close to blacking out, and on how Mizzou fan Jack Foster and his recent training eventually “saved my life”:

Mr Foster was a youth sports coach & told us later that he had just gone through training for his teams on how to do both CPR & save someone from choking.

That training is why I am here right now.

I’m thankful for him and all involved that helped saved my life that night.

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 16, 2024

Want to give a shout out as well to the @MizzouFootball trainers who helped me that night as well.

The painful aftermath has been slight fractures in 4 ribs but their team helped get me back on my feet.

Thankful to all involved for their help. pic.twitter.com/N5LcCfracc

— Peter Burns (@PeterBurnsESPN) September 16, 2024

Choking is absolutely a serious matter, with Statista citing 5,554 U.S. choking deaths in 2022 (and with around 5,000 deaths annually for much of the decade before that). It’s a key first aid focus for that matter, and this speaks to the value of those kinds of classes, especially for those involved in youth sports.

It’s good to hear that this worked out all right for Burns, and that Foster was able to help him here. And it’s appreciated to see a figure like Burns with a high profile share a story like this publicly. That might help increase the awareness of the importance of first aid classes, even beyond those involved with sports.

[Peter Burns on X/Twitter]