Patricia Busch, of Wheaton, always walks with God, but she was happy on July 15 to walk with someone in her life who saved it.

Busch, 75, utilizes Integrity Home Care and Hospice’s services, welcoming Julie Phillips, APC (advanced personal care), of Monett into her home three times a week. Last Tuesday, Phillips was able to intervene in a situation that could have turned fatal.

“I was eating a chicken wrap with apple in it,” Busch said. “The apple pieces were not that big, but I didn’t get one chewed up well, and I started choking. Julie came over to my chair, grabbed my arm and lifted me up. I was wheezing and could not breathe, and she did the Heimlich maneuver and a tiny piece of apple came flying out.

“It was lodged in my windpipe, and if Julie wasn’t here, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Busch shouldered some of the blame for the incident, saying she should have been sitting up straighter when eating, and Phillips said after the Heimlich maneuver worked, she apologized for not cutting up the apple a bit smaller.

“I saw Patricia was holding her throat and hitting her chest, and she couldn’t breathe or talk and was leaning back in her chair not able to get up,” Phillips said. “I helped her up and got her some water to try to help it go down, but that did not work, so that’s when I did the Heimlich. Being trained on it, I was just like, ‘I have to do this.’” Phillips said it was the first time she’d used the maneuver on another person while they were actively choking, but the intensity of the situation did not fluster her.

“It just happened,” she said. “Instincts took over. We tried everything before doing the Heimlich, and the best thing to do in those situations is to try not to panic.”

Phillips has been an in-home care provider for five years, getting into the industry by chance after completing dental assistant school.

“I started applying for jobs, and this was the first one that called,” she said. “CPR training is required, as well as other life-saving measures training like the Heimlich maneuver. But, I’ve always had this training anyways.”

This was not Busch’s first near-fatal experience, as she said another caregiver saved her life in Idaho many years ago after she had gone into a diabetic coma. Busch said she was grateful to Phillips for taking action, and grateful to God she was there to be able to help.

“There are no words to describe how much I appreciate Julie,” Busch said. “I’ve been in situations where people just watch or freeze up, even if they are trained. I’m thankful she could do it, and that it was successful.

“I’m so mighty thankful if I had $1 million, I would give it to her.”

“And I wouldn’t have taken it,” Phillips said.

Publisher’s Note: For more on this story, visit: https://www.cassville-democrat.com/2025/07/23/good-news-in-wheaton/