Robert "Bob" Geagan

BUTLER TWP — It seems everyone in and around Butler knows Bob Geagan.

A state constable, he gets around a lot, professionally speaking. He’s been in law enforcement for nearly 20 years.

On Thursday night, Geagan accidentally found himself on center stage.

Toward the end of a meeting of the Butler County Law Enforcement Association, held at the American Legion Post 778 in the Highfield section of Butler Township, the jovial crowd of around 80 suddenly became quiet.

At one of the tables, Harold Schneider, in his 80s and in a wheelchair, began choking, unable to breathe.

Two tables away, Geagan heard the commotion and looked over.

“I saw Harry holding his throat, gasping for air,” Geagan said.

At that very moment, he didn’t know that Schneider, while taking medication, got a pill lodged in his throat, partially cutting off his air supply.

“He couldn’t talk,” said Saxonburg District Judge Sue Haggerty, who was seated at the table across from Schneider. “He could only move his arms.”

A retired businessman, Schneider owns Rolling Ridge Farms, a nearly 1,000-acre spread in Concord Township. He is an associate member of the county’s law enforcement association

Geagan didn’t hesitate to answer the call.

But Schneider being in a wheelchair presented a challenge.

“I had to pick him up out of it,” Geagan said.

The Heimlich maneuver involves hugging a choking victim from behind and shoving a fist below the rib cage to force air into the throat and dislodge the object.

“Harold kept slipping on Bob,” O’Donnell said in recounting Geagan’s efforts to lift Schneider into position to perform the life-saving procedure.

Geagan eventually managed, and after five or six thrusts of pressure on Schneider’s diaphragm, the airway block was dislodged.

Out of relief for Schneider and in recognition of Geagan, the room burst into applause.

“It was awesome,” Haggerty said.