'I saved a man's life after he was choking on a kebab'

A doorman has described the moment he saved a choking man's life after a piece of kebab became lodged in his throat outside a bar.

Carl Bishop, 54, from Tamworth, Staffordshire, was working as a door supervisor at Le Reve in Lichfield when he heard people shouting that a man could not breathe, shortly after midnight on 20 September.

Using first-aid training, Bishop carried out abdominal thrusts and back slaps while an onlooker called an ambulance.

"Nothing was working," he said. "Then, after about three minutes, a piece of meat came flying out of his mouth."

The man was able to breathe again, while Bishop said the adrenaline left him feeling exhausted.

"My legs were like jelly," he said.

Days later, the man returned to the bar to personally thank Bishop for saving his life.

"Our eyes did fill up a little when we met," Bishop said. "There was a kiss and a cuddle."

The bar's owner, Sophie Oceans, said it had been a memorable evening for the team.

"We're just really proud to have someone like Carl working on our door," she said.

"We checked he was OK afterwards and offered him a 0% Guinness."

Bishop, who works for Irongate Security, said his first-aid qualification from St John Ambulance had once felt like little more than a requirement for the job.

"It was a tick-box exercise and something I needed to do," he said.

"But when it happened, I wasn't winging it. I was fully trained."

He said the experience had reminded him of the positive impact door staff can have.

"There's so many bad things you see as a doorman and you get so much abuse," he said.

"To do something positive like that, it's nice to talk about it."

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