Recruit Saves Sailor's Life at RTC

GREAT LAKES, Ill. - (NNS) -- Capt. John T. Dye, Recruit Training Command commanding officer, presented Seaman Recruit Guislain-Christian K. Muvundamina, 24, of Minneapolis, with a Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal for heroic achievement April 29 aboard the USS Roosevelt recruit barracks at RTC.

Muvundamina saved the life of fellow Sailor Hospitalman (FMF) Nicholas Miner by using the Heimlich maneuver in the galley of the USS Reuben James, another barracks aboard RTC, during lunch on April 23.

Miner, who had been eating a salad, describes the moments leading up to his choking as uneventful.

"I went over to the chow hall in Ship 2 with a couple of friends for lunch, just laughing and talking, having a good time, a break from work," said Miner, following the award ceremony. "All of a sudden, the food I was eating got lodged, and all I could think was, is this really happening right now? I try to eat healthy, and it tries to kill me."

Though Miner was with friends, Muvundamina's help was still needed.

"The female corpsman I was with was small stature," said Miner. "Myself, I'm a large human being, so for her, she didn't have the strength necessary to get the food free. So, she called for another corpsman we were with, who was all the way on the other side of the chow hall."

"At this point I'm standing, I'm gasping for air, trying to get something loose so I could breathe," said Miner. "It's starting to get physically dark, and Lord knows what would've happened... All of a sudden, a shipmate comes out of nowhere, and next thing I know, I'm being lifted off the ground and someone's beating on my chest. A few seconds later, I could breathe and started getting my vision back. I was happy to be alive. No doubt in my mind that this shipmate actually saved my life."

Miner describes the experience as nothing less than his life flashing before his eyes.

"I just kept thinking about my wife and son..." said Miner. "It's very true that if you believe you're about to die, you think about the people around you, that you care about the most. Thought briefly about my mom, my dad, my sister... then the rest of the time I was thinking about my son. I thought, Oh my God, I'm never going to see him grow up, I'm never going to see him go to school."

"The only thing I could think of was thank God he (Muvundamina) was there," said Miner. "I don't know what else would have happened, I don't know what my family would have done. I was just in awe that the entire thing had actually happened."

Muvundamina, who was preparing to return to his barracks, noticed the commotion and immediately stepped in to help.

"A corpsman started yelling for help, and called for another corpsman to come over," said Muvundamina. "I happened to look over, noticed that he was choking, so I just got up, went over and helped him out."

Before joining the Navy, Muvundamina worked on an ambulance for five years as an EMT. He began as a cadet with the fire department at age 14, and describes himself as having a "strong interest in helping people."

"Just, get there," said Muvundamina, describing his thoughts when he saw Miner in distress. "Assess what's going on, perform the appropriate action necessary. I didn't really think about it, I just kind of did it. It's just how I was trained to do things. It's what I did all the time. We train to think less and just act. When you start to think, that's when you start to have problems. When people think too hard, that's when inappropriate action is sometimes taken."

"I'm just glad he's doing alright," said Muvundamina of Miner, who has suffered no lasting effects from the incident. "In the end, that's why I wanted to help. I'm glad he's doing well. I found out he was married and had a kid. He gets to go home every night now and see his family, and that's good. That's what was important to me."

Important to Miner's family, too, especially his wife, who Miner described as "so grateful" for Muvundamina's actions. "Ironically, I had gone to work and she was really mad at me," said Miner. "She was so peeved. The moment I told her what happened, everything else was gone. She kind of went into a crying fit. She said 'I don't know what I would have done without you.' Everything just went 180 degrees."

Though his family was unable to attend the ceremony, Miner was proud Muvundamina had been recognized for his actions.

"I'm really happy something came from this," said Miner. "I'm really glad he got recognized. It was definitely an experience I'm never going to forget."

Suggesting a future friendship for the two, Miner said with a laugh, "He can hit me up on Facebook." Miner was also forthright with his lesson learned from the experience: "I don't ever want a salad again."

Muvundamina maintained a humble approach to the attention, speaking to fellow recruits about doing the right thing when the situation arises.

"I haven't told anyone really yet," said Muvundamina of receiving the award. "I'm not one who really looks for recognition, I just do what I know to do. This is a little more publicity than I'm used to."

Recruit Training Command, located in Great Lakes, Ill., trains over 37,000 volunteer civilian recruits annually, transforming them into basically trained Sailors. Learn more at http://bootcamp.navy.mil or at http://www.facebook.com/NavyRecruitTrainingCommand/.>
For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/local/rtc/.