Family Safety Day is an annual event that allows the community to connect to first responders such as police, firefighters, EMS, and more. It’s an opportunity for families to learn how to stay safe in case of emergencies.

At this year’s event, a real emergency occurred, providing more than just a hypothetical demonstration for attendees.

Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Deputy Jon Popenfoose sprung into action when a mother brought her choking child to their exhibitor table.

“The mom walked the daughter up, said she was choking, and handed her to me,” Popenfoose recalls. “I proceeded to do a couple of Heimlich maneuvers, turned her over, and proceeded to pat her back four or five times.”

That’s when Popenfoose says the girl started to make progress before fire & EMS officials took over.

Popenfoose says, to his knowledge, there has never been an emergency like this at a Family Safety Day event.

“It was a shock at first,” he tells 95.3 MNC’s reporting partners at News Now Warsaw. “It still kind of feels weird right now, but I saved someone’s life.”

After Popenfoose’s life-saving actions, the girl’s family took her to an area hospital as a precaution. She is expected to be OK.