“I decided to approach him.”
The other day in Turkey, Selçuk Çavdar became an unexpected hero after spotting a cat in grave distress. While out running errands, Çavdar noticed an orange and white cat making strange, frantic movements outside a small market. Something wasn’t right.
“After observing for a few seconds, I thought there must be a problem,” Çavdar told The Dodo. “I decided to approach him.”
What he soon realized was alarming — the cat was choking.
“I saw that there was a small piece of food in his mouth. He couldn’t swallow it. The food was stuck in his throat,” Çavdar explained. “At that moment, the cat looked at me as if to say, ‘Help me.’”
Reacting quickly, Çavdar relied on training he’d received for performing the Heimlich maneuver — not just on adults, but on infants as well. Using a modified version of that technique, he placed one hand below the cat’s ribcage and gave a few careful upward taps and rubs between the shoulder blades. Miraculously, the lodged food — a chicken bone — was expelled.
The cat was saved.
“He gave me a grateful look and a small meow. Then he walked away,” Çavdar said. “The next day, I went to visit him to make sure he was OK. He’s very healthy.”
The moment could have easily ended in tragedy had Çavdar not recognized the signs of choking and known exactly what to do. His quick action and calm approach made all the difference.
“I feel obliged to help,” Çavdar said. “It doesn’t matter if it is a human or an animal in trouble.”
Thanks to his compassion and presence of mind, one lucky cat gets to roam the streets another day — and Selçuk Çavdar earned the quiet gratitude of a life saved.