A Doctor Saved a Passenger Mid-flight With a Spoon, a Towel, and Toothpicks
A doctor onboard Air China Flight 1478 last week got creative to help save a passenger suffering from an epileptic seizure in the middle of a flight.
Dr. Tian Yu, of Shanghai’s Longhua Hospital, responded to the cabin crew’s requests for medical assistance when a passenger was found unconscious on the flight from Kashgar to Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang province.
“It was a male passenger aged between 35 and 40,” Tian told Shanghai Daily. “He seemed dazed and was foaming at the mouth.”
With limited supplies to work with, Yu asked the crew for a towel and a spoon, which he used to hold down the passenger's tongue to prevent him from choking, according to Xinmin Evening News.
Tian, who has training in traditional Chinese medicine, then used toothpicks (in place of needles) to stimulate acupuncture points on the man's head in an effort to help him regain consciousness.
The man came to after about five minutes, and paramedics met the flight when it landed 20 minutes later to take him to a local hospital, The Daily Mail reported.
Talia Avakian is a digital reporter at Travel + Leisure. Follow her on Twitter at @TaliaAvak.
