Sky-high hero: Doctor saves plane passenger’s life with spoon and toothpick
A QUICK-THINKING doctor used a very unconventional method to save the day mid-air.
Cabin crew were relieved there was a doctor on this Air China flight
When an emergency recently unfolded on an Air China flight, Dr Tian Yu sprung to action.
A fellow passenger was found foaming at the mouth in the midst of a seizure.
Dr Yu - a medic at Shanghai hospital - rushed over to lend his expertise.
Rather than a typical first aid kit, he asked flight attendants for a spoon and a toothpick.
The Air China plane was travelling from Kashgar to Urumqi
Ibiza flight is diverted due to drunk man's antics
Using his baffling surgery kit, he managed to save the passenger’s life.
Dr Yu held down the man’s tongue with the spoon to stop him from choking.
He then stimulated pressure points on the passenger’s head to stop him from seizing.
The unusual treatment worked incredibly fast - within minutes the man was able to sit up and ask for water.
The spoon was used to hold down the passenger's tongue to stop him from choking
Dr Yu’s method to stimulate the brain via the pressure points is a popular remedy for seizures in Chinese medicine.
But it’s not a method the doctor had used regularly, having worked on an emergency ward for seven years.
Relieved crew members were able to carry on the flight from Kashgar to Urumqi.
It’s believed epileptic fits can be brought on by the pressure and changes in oxygen on aircraft.
The toothpick was used to stimulate pressure points on the patient's head
A different kind of in-flight emergency recently unfolded on a Libyan airline plane.
The baby was appropriately named after the plane’s captain, Abdul Basset.
Little Abdul has been handed a lifetime of free flights with the airline to any of its destinations around the world.