Loyola cafeteria cashier saves Emergency Department physician with Heimlich maneuver
September 22, 2025
CONTACT:
Allison Peters
allison.peters@luhs.org
708-216-6140
MAYWOOD, IL – What began as a routine lunch break turned into a life-saving moment at Loyola University Medical Center when cafeteria cashier Keztly Angel sprang into action to help a choking physician.
Joan Dimopoulos, MD, an emergency room physician at Loyola, had just stepped into the hospital cafeteria for a quick bite during a busy shift in Loyola's Emergency Department. After eating a chicken sandwich, she suddenly felt discomfort in her upper esophagus. While waiting in line to pay for a bottle of water, she attempted to drink it to relieve the sensation—but the food remained lodged, and she began to choke.
Earlier today, the two women reunited at a special ceremony attended by Angel’s two children and Dr. Dimopoulos’s mother. Dr. Dimopoulos presented Angel with flowers and expressed her gratitude. “I really wanted to say thank you to Keztly. I had a very scary event in our cafeteria. I couldn’t breathe, and she recognized that I gave the universal choking sign. She had the courage to help me," Dr. Dimopoulos shared with the group.
"I’m just so grateful that you were there, and that you had the awareness and the knowledge and the courage to act," she said before embracing Angel.
Angel, who learned the Heimlich maneuver while a student at Proviso East High School, had never used it before. “I’m glad I was able to react quickly and be able to help her,” she said. Dr. Dimopoulos added, “It just goes to show you that you never know when you can help somebody.”
Just days after the incident, Angel marked her one-year anniversary as a cafeteria cashier at Loyola University Medical Center. “I love it here,” she said. “The team is amazing, and it’s a great environment to work in.”
Photos and video from the ceremony can be downloaded here: https://trinityhealth.canto.com/b/NU5OK
About Loyola Medicine
Loyola Medicine, a member of Trinity Health, is a nationally ranked academic, quaternary care system based in Chicago's western suburbs. The three-hospital system includes Loyola University Medical Center (LUMC), Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, MacNeal Hospital, as well as convenient locations offering primary care, specialty care and immediate care services from nearly 2,000 physicians throughout Cook, Will and DuPage counties. LUMC is a 547-licensed-bed hospital in Maywood that includes the William G. and Mary A. Ryan Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine, the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, the John L. Keeley, MD, Emergency Department, a Level 1 trauma center, Illinois's largest burn center, the Nancy W. Knowles Orthopaedic Institute, a certified comprehensive stroke center, transplant center and a children’s hospital. Having delivered compassionate care for over 50 years, Loyola also trains the next generation of caregivers through its academic affiliation with Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine and Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing.
Established in 1961, Gottlieb Memorial Hospital is a 235-licensed-bed community hospital in Melrose Park that includes the Judd A. Weinberg Emergency Department, the Loyola Center for Metabolic Surgery and Bariatric Care, Loyola Cancer Care & Research at the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Center, acute rehabilitation, a transitional care center, childcare center and fitness center. Founded in 1919, MacNeal Hospital is a 349-licensed-bed teaching hospital in Berwyn with advanced medical, surgical and psychiatric services and a 68-bed behavioral health program.
For more information, visit loyolamedicine.org. You can also follow Loyola Medicine on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or X (formerly known as Twitter).
About Trinity Health
Trinity Health is one of the largest not-for-profit, faith-based health care systems in the nation. It is a family of 127,000 colleagues and more than 38,300 physicians and clinicians caring for diverse communities across 26 states. Nationally recognized for care and experience, the Trinity Health system includes 93 hospitals, 107 continuing care locations, the second largest PACE program in the country, 142 urgent care locations and many other health and well-being services. In fiscal year 2024, the Livonia, Michigan-based health system invested $1.3 billion in its communities in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs. For more information, visit us at www.trinity-health.org, or follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and X (formerly known as Twitter).