Four paramedics and two local doctors dining at Ambrosia Restaurant in Baillie Park rushed to the aid of a woman who developed breathing problems during her meal on Friday, 10 November 2023. The Herald reported the incident on page 5 of the 16 November edition.

The publication stated that the off-duty paramedics managed to revive the woman’s pulse twice and transport her via ambulance to Potchefstroom Mediclinic. Unfortunately, she went into cardiac arrest for the third time and died a short while after she arrived at the hospital.

The family of the deceased woman declined to speak to the Herald about the incident at the time. After disagreeing with certain wording in the first article, the victim’s partner, who was dining with her, contacted the Herald a week later, providing his version of the story.

The Herald previously stated that “he also did not know she had choked.” According to him, he noticed she was choking and immediately got up and thumped her on the back twice. When it did not help, he pulled her up from her chair to dislodge whatever she was choking on.

“At about the same time, the paramedics and doctors, who were sitting at the nearby tables after spotting our struggle jumped to our table and took my partner out of my hands who was losing her consciousness then. I shouted out once to the female paramedic who said to me at the same time: “We will take over from here, we are medics” that she was choking.”

The man thanked the paramedics and doctors who attended to his partner at the scene of the unfortunate incident.