Woman Breaks Every Rib Performing CPR on Girlfriend's 'Homophobic' Gran on Christmas Day

A woman ended up breaking every rib in her girlfriend's gran's body as she heroically saved her life, after the elderly woman choked on a piece of meat.

Fitness trainer Lizzy shared the incredible story to her TikTok page, @bodybydaddy, as she called the ordeal the "longest five minutes of my life."

Lizzy, who devises specialized fitness workouts for the LGBTQ+ community, captioned the now-viral clip: "CPR on my girlfriend's homophobic grandma."

She undeniably saved the 91-year-old's life on Christmas day, as she performed the Heimlich maneuver and then cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on Dana.

Lizzy, based in Chicago, recounted the epic tale, saying: "Do you know what it's like to give CPR to your girlfriend's grandmother on Christmas, at Christmas dinner?"

The 31-year-old told Newsweek she was: "Soo thankful I am certified, as a trainer I keep up my CPR every two years. I own my own fitness company. Her family's reaction was—so thankful, lots of hugs, and her brother was calling me an angel, saying praise 2. (2 is my nickname since my girlfriend's name is Lizzie)."

Lizzy confirmed it was "my first time doing CPR on a human," and her girlfriend's reaction was: "I'm getting CPR certified."

In the video she set the scene, explaining: "My girlfriend's out the room, and her mom's out the room. We had steak for dinner, it was delicious.

"The brother notices though that the grandmother is chewing, looking down. She can't swallow something, she's really struggling.

"Grandma are you okay? She's still struggling. Grandma are you okay? Grandma are you choking?

"All of a sudden her face turns blue, I stand up 'does anyone know the Heimlich?'"

She continues: "The oldest brother, the strongest one, he tries. But he doesn't know what he's doing because he's not CPR certified, I am."

Lizzy says she did "belly button thumb" and began trying to dislodge the food.

She continued: "I am just thrusting as hard as I can, in and up, in and up. I am eight thrusts deep when she just passes out. This woman is 90lbs. She just passes out in my arms. I lay her down on the ground, I start compressions."

Lizzy described the ordeal, continuing: "Everyone around me is losing it. I yell for someone to dial 911, everyone just scatters. The dad, my girlfriend's dad is next to me, this is his mom."

Describing the surreal situation, Lizzy, revealed: "An hour before this, this woman had just asked me if I was the boy. Now I'm over her, giving her compressions, probably breaking her ribs."

Thankfully Lizzy's CPR worked, as she said: "For what amount seems like forever later, suddenly the lungs breathe back at me and I'm like, c'mon Dana, c'mon Dana.

"A couple of pumps later suddenly this piece of food just appears in her mouth. It's a piece of steak, and the dad just pulls it out. The color comes back and she says something."

The heroine added: "I felt like I won the superbowl. I never want to do that again. Everyone get CPR certified."

The clip, which can be seen here, was shared on Tuesday and amassed nearly six million views as people hailed Lizzy's quick-thinking.

After the video blew up, Lizzy shared an update, as she hailed Dana a "tough old bird."

Sharing a snap of Dana and her girlfriend, Lizzie, from the hospital, Lizzy said: "So apparently I broke every single one of her ribs. But she's ok, she's in the hospital now.

"She said I did a good job, because all of her ribs were broken but in the same place."

And when asked in the comments what her girlfriend's dad's reaction was, Lizzy wrote: "Omg he was so grateful, gave me a big hug and everything."

Chatting to Newsweek, Lizzy confirmed she broke 13 ribs, and Dana was in the hospital for three days.

But she stressed: "She says problematic things but I never wanted the video to paint her in a bad light, just that she's old and says problematic stuff you know?"

Commenting on the original video, SerialCommenter joked: "For the rest of her life she's going to recount the tale of the handsome young man that saved her life."

Magick noted: "Everyone should be CPR certified and this is why."

Criz commented: "Can feel the adrenaline. Thanks for being there for her and I hope you never have to do that again either."

Lauren joked: "You're forever gonna be the favorite girlfriend dude."

Krystalbee11 thought: "The boy? No ma'am. The hero."

Fablerealm added: "Hopefully you CPR'd the homophobia right out of her. Also you are amazing! You legit saved Christmas."

Healthline.com explains the Heimlich is best performed on someone standing up, while you then stand behind them.

The website stated: "Lean the person forward and give five blows to their back with the heel of your hand. Place your arms around their waist.

"Make a fist and place it just above the navel, thumb side in. Grab the fist with your other hand and push it inward and upward at the same time. Perform five of these abdominal thrusts."

This should be repeated until the object is dislodged and the person can breathe on their own.

While the NHS explains CPR is performed on people who are "unconscious and not breathing normally."

To start hands-only CPR, place the "heel of your hand" on the person's breastbone at the center of their chest, and interlock your fingers.

The website instructs: "Using your body weight (not just your arms), press straight down by 5 to 6cm (2 to 2.5 inches) on their chest.

"Keeping your hands on their chest, release the compression and allow the chest to return to its original position.

"Repeat these compressions at a rate of 100 to 120 times a minute until an ambulance arrives or you become exhausted."

Update 1/5/22, 10:52 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment, video and photos from Lizzy.