A Saudi nurse on board a Tuesday morning flight en-route from Ha'il to Riyadh saved a passenger who nearly choked while on the plane, Sabq news site reported.
Fifteen minutes into the Saudia flight, Awatef bint Daham Al Shemmari heard the woman calling for help and noticed she was choking on her own tongue and having difficulty breathing.
"I immediately guided her on what should be done during such cases in order to ensure air would still go in and out of her lungs. I then worked on resuscitating her heart and lungs with the help of a few passengers," the labor and delivery nurse told Sabq.
Al Shemmari alerted flight crew members to the urgency of the situation and told them that an emergency landing was needed to save the passenger's life.
The woman was immediately transferred to a hospital after the plane made a turn back to Ha'il. The nurse went with her, refusing to resume her flight to Riyadh.
Al Shemmari was hailed as a hero by passengers and by the patient's family.
The woman's son, Rajaa Lafi, made sure to thank the hero via a post uploaded on Twitter. The man confirmed his mother suffered an emergency in-flight, adding that she is a cancer patient.
"One of the passengers, a woman named Awatef bint Daham Al Shemmari saved my mother's life and missed her flight to stay with her until we got to the hospital," he wrote.
As news of the incident made the rounds on Saudi Twitter, many joined Lafi in on hailing the nurse for springing into action to save a life.
"She should be honored," one tweep posted. Another lauded the nurse, writing "Medicine is all about humanity."
