Pittsburgh Pirates employee honored by American Red Cross for saving choking coworker

PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh Pirates employee was honored by the American Red Cross for saving a coworker who was choking.

Patrick Benedict, who is a gameday security team member for the Pirates, was honored at Friday night’s game.

Benedict was given the Red Cross Lifesaving Award after he used his Red Cross training to save his coworker’s life on June 7.

On Benedict’s first day on the job, he noticed a fellow team member was choking and couldn’t breathe. He jumped into action and performed abdominal thrusts and saved his coworker.

“We’re extremely proud to present a Lifesaving Award to Patrick,” Jorge Martinez, CEO of the Red Cross, said. “In my time with the Red Cross, I’ve learned that heroes are all around us – but it takes a special person to step forward and act quickly and decisively in a crisis. We commend Patrick for stepping up in an emergency and using his Red Cross training to help save a life.”

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