Army U.S. National Guard Spec. Shannon McPhee received the U.S. Army Commendation Medal on the steps of Springfield City Hall.
SPRINGFIELD - A soldier in the U.S. Army National Guard was lauded for saving two lives after she helped a pregnant woman choking on food at the city's tornado shelter in the days following the storm.
Though they haven't spoken since, Spec. Shannon McPhee, one of a dozen military police who remain in the city, performed the Heimlich maneuver on the woman at the MassMutual Center, where she had sought shelter, last week.
After she received the U.S. Army Commendation Medal on the steps of City Hall on Friday afternoon, McPhee, a member of the 747th Military Police Company from Ware, said she noticed a commotion one evening following the twister and saw a pregnant woman signaling the universal sign for choking, with both hands crossed over her neck.
McPhee dislodged the food that was stuck and saved the woman's life, witnesses said. It was unknown how far along the pregnant woman was, but city officials said she is still expecting and remains in the tornado shelter.
"This is why I joined the guard," McPhee said after the ceremony, adding that it was her first time administering the Heimlich and that she served a term in Iraq earlier this year. "Not only do you get to protect lives overseas but right at home as well."
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said the National Guard has been a critical component in keeping order in the city in the wake of the 39-mile tornado that tore through the region on June 1.
State Rep. Cheryl Coakley-Rivera, D-Springfield, who has fashioned herself as a shepherd of sorts for the shelter, said McPhee should be applauded.
"You saved not only one life but two lives," Rivera said.