COLUMBUS, Ga. — A Georgia fast-food employee is being praised for his quick thinking after he rescued a choking child in the restaurant’s drive-thru.
According to WTVM and WRBL, the incident occurred after the lunchtime rush Monday at a Chick-fil-A on Manchester Expressway in Columbus. Employee Zack “Cowboy” Kokenzie, a CPR-certified Eagle Scout, “heard panicked cries coming from a vehicle in the drive-thru” and saw a “father and another customer trying to free what appeared to be a choking child in the rear seat,” the restaurant said in a Facebook post.
“It appeared that the seat belt had become wrapped around the child’s windpipe,” the post added.
As the customers failed to rescue the child, Kokenzie and another worker, Zachary Bullock, sprang into action, according to the post. Bullock handed scissors to Kokenzie, who “calmly walked over to the rear of the vehicle and cut through the seat belt in seconds, freeing the child,” the post read.
The restaurant’s owner and operator, Alex Vann, praised the employees in a statement.
“This could have been far worse, but Zack and others were in the right place, with the right training and the right attitude to potentially save the life of one of our customers. We are glad everyone is all right,” the statement read. “Great job, Cowboy, and to our team for responding so quickly to avert a life-threatening situation.”