Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider saves a woman from ‘choking on a shrimp’ in restaurant

Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider saved a woman from drowning after intervening with the Heimlich maneuver while out for lunch.

Schneider, who was named manager of the Blue Jays after a successful interim stint, was enjoying lunch with his wife “about two weeks ago” in Dunedin, FL.

The 43-year-old man helped a woman who had a shrimp disrupting her airflow at Clear Sky Draft Haus, very close to the Blue Jays’ player development complex north of Clearwater.

‘[She] he was choking on a shrimp, I wandered over there, he asked if I could help,” Scneider said, via sports network. “No one at her table was helping, a couple of Heimlichs and she was fine.”

“The right place, the right time,” Schneider told reporters on Sunday. He was enjoying lunch. Either you help or you don’t, and I decided to go see if I could help.

John Schneider helped save a woman from drowning on a shrimp while having lunch in Dunedin

Despite the little practice of the maneuver, Schneider was not worried about intervening.

I learned it in sixth grade and haven’t done it since. So, it was like, “I think I remember how to do this.” I’m a bigger guy so I think that helped a bit.

Schneider received a reward for his act of heroism, in the form of a complimentary beer.

“She said, ‘Thank you,’ and continued to eat with her friends,” he said. I think I was a little more nervous than her.

While his disinterest may have come straight out of a Hollywood script, Schneider said the timing was far from it.

“I guess it came naturally, but it wasn’t like opening a bottle of champagne.”

The General Manager of Clear Sky Draft Haus received first-hand accounts of what transpired.

“I heard he was very polite and very nice, and then he helped her with the Heimlich,” Christakos told Sportsnet. “He was very nonchalant and walked back.”

Schneider’s calm under pressure should bode well for his first official season in charge of the Toronto baseball club after guiding them to a 46-28 record and an AL wild-card series.

The Blue Jays’ new manager was hired on an interim basis last season before receiving the job.

Toronto is currently working out in Dunedin, Florida as part of its annual spring training.