By Justin Fedich | The Selma Times-Journal

Kory Taylor took a CPR class when he was in college, but he never had to use those skills until Tuesday.

Taylor, the restaurant’s general manager, sprung to action after a man starting choking inside the restaurant Tuesday around 2:30 p.m.

Taylor performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the man. The food shot out and the man was able to breathe again.

There were only three or four customers in the KFC when the man, who was eating alone, started choking. Some women who were eating nearby notified KFC workers when they saw the man struggling.

KFC employee Barbara Woods was the first to notice what was going on. She ran and told Taylor, who was in his office at the time, what was happening.

“Somebody had to help him,” Woods said. “He needed help.”

Taylor said he’s never been in a situation like that before, but he didn’t hesitate when called into action.

“Barbara told me that somebody was choking, I jumped up, went to look, a customer pointed at him and got him up,” Taylor said.

Woods said she is grateful that Taylor was prepared for the situation.

She dreads to think about what might have happened otherwise.

“I probably wouldn’t know what to do, but he came out. He handled the situation much quicker,” Woods said.

The customer is a regular at KFC but neither Woods or Taylor knew his identity. After Taylor stopped the man from choking, Woods said the man went back to eating his meal following the incident.

While Taylor can now say that he saved someone’s life, he is humble about the act.

In his mind, it was just another day on the job, making sure he is there for his customers in whatever way they need.

“I’m just glad that he’s OK,” Taylor said. “We want to make sure we take care of our customers.”