Richard Madeley: ‘I nearly died choking on a piece of very rare beef – it was touch and go’

TV presenter Richard Madeley has said he nearly choked to death on a piece of “very rare beef” before being saved by his sister.

The 70-year-old said he swallowed the food without chewing properly during a “lively discussion”.

The star said the piece of beef went “straight into the windpipe”.

Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain to Dr Hilary Jones, Madeley said: “I tried to cough it up but I had no air in the lungs to do that. I suddenly realised I was choking.

“Pandemonium ensued. People came round behind me, they were hammering on my back. The minutes ticked by and it wouldn’t dislodge.

TV presenter Richard Madeley has said he nearly choked to death on a piece of ‘very rare beef’ (Getty)

“After two-and-a-half, three minutes, I began to feel my world closing in, black dots coming on the side [of my eyes], I began to feel very weak and a calm sense of acceptance coming, ‘oh, this is it, this is how I’m going to go.’”

Liz Lawrence, Madeley’s sister who is trained in performing the Heimlich manoeuvre, was present at the dinner and rushed in from the toilet to save him.

Madeley said: “She did the Heimlich on me. One, two, three times and it didn’t work, it was still lodged.

“I felt my knees give way and I went down and as I went down, thank God, she did it again.

“The combination of gravity and her doing it harder than ever before dislodged the beef, got a little bit of air in and managed to cough it up, and 10 seconds later I was back in the room, but it was touch and go.

“If she hadn’t known what to do, I would’ve died.”

If the person becomes unresponsive, an emergency 999 call should be made immediately (Getty/iStock)

According to the North West Ambulance Service, there are a number of steps you can take should you think someone is choking.

The service advises members of the public to encourage the person choking “to cough to try to clear the blockage”, before standing behind them, tilting them forwards and placing “up to five sharp blows between their shoulder blades with the heel of your hand”, should coughing not prove effective.

Should this still not work, it says to “clench one fist and place it just above their belly button, place your other hand on top of your fist and pull sharply inwards and upwards”. This should be repeated up to five times.

If the person becomes unresponsive, an emergency 999 call should be made immediately.