<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>When Carolyn Creswell invited friends to her sprawling rural </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="" title="Victorian"><span>Victorian</span></a><span> home for a dinner party one spring Saturday evening, she never imagined she would be leaving the property in an Air </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/paramedics" rel="" target="" title="Ambulance"><span>Ambulance</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The Carman's muesli founder and her husband Peter have opened up about the terrifying ordeal in November 2024, when Carolyn choked on a piece of steak during the meal at their Gippsland home.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We are so blessed to live in a country where we have this level of support," the 52-year-old said of the emergency response.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/teen-charged-after-allegedly-mowing-down-police-officer-on-electric-motorbike/7ae658ae-214c-4d32-989d-8f61dd28178a" target="_blank"><strong><span>Teen charged after allegedly mowing down sergeant on electric motorbike</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm grateful every day and I'm so grateful to still be alive and still be a mum to my kids."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The mother-of-four's traumatic brush with death was captured on home security cameras, showing her getting up from the table of six and coughing on the patio before splitting her head open as she collapsed on the ground.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's a bizarre thing to be able to hear the stories I've watched it over and over again to try and work out what I did wrong," she added.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/carolyn-creswell-carmans-muesli-founder-reunited-with-team-who-saved-her-life-choking-at-dinner-party/af8dddf1-4cbd-46ef-9701-ff17b5389c69" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Peter tried the Heimlich manoeuvre but when unsuccessful, they called emergency services.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"She was starting to go purple and I said 'can you breathe?' and then I said 'are you choking?' and she nodded and that's when I knew she was in trouble," he recalled.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I went inside to get my friend to ring Triple-Zero and he got straight onto them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I went back outside and in that split couple-of-seconds, Carolyn had fallen over and there was blood coming out of her head."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After years managing their kids' local nippers program, Peter was trained in life-saving CPR.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He desperately performed compressions on Carolyn for almost 30 minutes while another friend remained on the line to Triple-Zero and a third kept watch at the front gate of the remote property so paramedics wouldn't drive past.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/australian-airlines-at-risk-from-jet-fuel-shortages-report-says/39035c29-3587-4394-96ee-3f2b99ebbd84" target="_blank"><strong><span>Australian airlines among 'most exposed' if jet fuel runs dry</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Peter and Carolyn praised the efforts of Triple-Zero call taker Imogen Disney and Ambulance Victoria ALS Paramedic Trent Jackson, who today reunited with the woman they helped save.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Peter was absolutely fantastic to stay so calm in such a stressful situation to someone he loved so dearly he did an absolutely fantastic job," Disney recalled.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We don't really often hear recovery stories, so it was really nice to hear that Carolyn made a full recovery."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Jackson described the moment he was able to remove the pieces of steak that were blocking Carolyn's blocked airways.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I grabbed a laryngoscope... which is a device we use to prop open the patient's airway so we can have a look deeper into their throat and mouth," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I could see the end of the piece of steak, which I was able to grab onto with some forceps and extract it.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/super-k-flu-symptoms-contagious-period-recovery-time-everything-you-need-know-explained/304d115b-8953-42be-ba80-1ec4f3ae350c" target="_blank"><strong><span>The super-K flu strain is spreading fast in Australia. Here's why that's 'extremely dangerous'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Had another look and could see the tag end of another piece of meat pinched onto that one and pulled it out. It was a significant blockage, so a large piece of steak."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Carolyn was airlifted to hospital with head injuries, nine broken ribs and a broken sternum.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After a week in intensive care, Carolyn has made a full recovery.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Peter believes everyone should know "some form of CPR at a minimum, just to keep your loved one alive until the ambulance can get there", with Carolyn crediting it with saving her.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"There's no way I'd be alive now if [Peter] hadn't known what he did," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When you're in hospital, in intensive care, and every doctor that walks past says 'it's always the steak, it's always the steak', so my other message to people is chew your steak very well.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And don't use butter knives, you need proper steak knives because you can go from one moment just having a lovely dinner with your friends to within a few minutes you're in a life or death situation."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google by</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://9.nine.com.au/8x987w" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>ticking this box here</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Sign up to</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://login.nine.com.au/edm?client_id=nineatnine" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>our breaking newsletter here</span></em></strong></a></li></ul></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span></span></div></div>