I would like to express my gratitude to a lady who saved my life on June 27 in giving me the Heimlich maneuver at the Chinese Buffet Restaurant on Smithfield Street.

I am from Cleveland, and frequent your great city. While there, I stop and have lunch at the aforementioned restaurant. But, on this occasion, my lunch went terribly wrong.

I was choking and attempting to draw attention to this fact. Everyone in the restaurant ignored my dilemma, except for this angel of a lady. I was waving my arms frantically and unable to speak.

This lady sensed something was wrong. She inquired: "Are you OK?" To reiterate: I could not speak, and was wheezing. I nodded my head "no," and managed to mumble out "I'm choking!"

With that, this wonderful lady, jumped over to my table. She proceeded to give me the Heimlich maneuver. The culprit (a piece of beef) shot out of my mouth. As the lady proceeded back to her table, I thanked and thanked her, but was too distraught to obtain her name.

I want to share with the city of Pittsburgh this experience, and thank this nameless Good Samaritan in writing. I will never forget her unselfishness. They say that "God gives us a mission in life." Dear lady, I was "one of your missions."

VIOLA SHIMKO, Lakewood, Ohio

On July 20, I took my 85-year-old mother to the Quest lab in Aspinwall to have some blood work done. We don't make an appointment because I never know how she is going to be on any given day. It is hard for her to go and wait a long time. She is on oxygen all the time and uses a walker to get around.

When we got there, a few people were ahead of us. When the lab technician came with the sign-in sheet, a kind gentleman who was there ahead of us allowed my mother to go first. As we were leaving, the technician called in a woman ahead of him because she had an appointment.

That kind gentleman got up and scratched his name off the list because he was on a time schedule and had to get back to work. I felt bad that he gave up his turn for us. What an unselfish thing that was for him to do. He knew he didn't have much time, yet he let my elderly mother go first.

I didn't get his name but, I would really like to thank him for his random act of kindness.

NANCY WEISSERT, O'Hara

A few weeks ago, we were in the ER at Jefferson Hospital with a medical problem my husband was having. We had been there for at least five hours; they were busy. We were so tired, stressed and hungry while waiting for the doctor to see my husband in the ER cubicle with test results, thinking the worst, of course.

Across from our area were two thoughtful Italian women. One brought me a book if I wanted to read, then brought us a sandwich, a drink and some cookies. These two women were strangers and, although one had a bad fall and also was waiting to see the doctor, they were kind enough to think of others.

They were discharged before I had a chance to see if she was OK and to thank them both again. So from one Italian to another: "Thanks, ladies." I hope you see this.

And, again, that was the best sandwich we ever had!

GINNY and DALE ROZGONYI, West Mifflin

I am a senior citizen who had a wonderful as well as disturbing experience on July 28.

My automobile stopped running at the worst possible time. Traffic was very congested at the traffic light across from the city police station on Washington Boulevard at the intersection of Washington Drive.

I notified AAA and they responded promptly. But there was a period when a few drivers gave me the nasty finger and vocal reprimands, which was disturbing.

However, I want to thank and express my respect for the many wonderful and kind people and police officers who offered to help. One gentleman asked if I wanted to cool off in his air conditioned car. Four Pittsburgh officers were extra nice. Most of the drivers coming down Highland while I tried to safely direct the vehicles away from mine were appreciative and understanding.

Kudos to all the wonderful people who make Pittsburgh a great place to live. It certainly makes me feel proud to know there are many kind and caring people here.

JOHN HARVATH, West View

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