Father of Nats player saves choking woman

SAN FRANCISCO >> Willie Ross attended Saturday’s game at Oracle Park with the simple intention of watching the Washington Nationals, the team his son

Joe pitches for, play the Giants on what figured to be a picture-perfect day at the waterfront stadium.

It turned out that Ross was needed to save another person’s life.

Midway through the game, Ross, a pediatrician at Stanford Hospital, noticed an elderly woman sitting near him who was choking on some food.

“I saw her having some difficulties and I saw her companion helping her out,” Ross said. “So I was

watching, making sure she was OK, and she gestured that she was OK, and I went over just to check, and she couldn’t talk. She needed help.”

Ross performed the Heimlich maneuver on the woman, who he said had three pieces of a hot dog lodged in her airway.

“I don’t think a lot of people knew what was going on because they’re focused on the game ,” Ross said.

Two pieces of the hot dog came out, but the woman was still not completely fine. When the third piece was dislodged, Ross said it was “as big as my thumb to my first knuckle.”

Ross said the woman was actually a nurse who had recently retired after 53 years at Summit Medical Center in Oakland.

Ross spoke with the woman briefly after incident, describing her as embarrassed, but thankful and grateful. “As a nurse, she’s used to giving not receiving,” he said.

The woman was then finallyOK, and a huge cheer erupted from the dozens of fans who were seated around the ongoing incident.

Ross has been around his share of serious medical situations in his time as a physician. “I’ve seen a lot of stuff,” Ross said. “In the grand scheme of things, this was low on the totem pole.”

Willie Ross is the father to both Joe Ross, 28, who is in his sixth season in Major League Baseball, all with the Washington Nationals. Tyson Ross, 34, pitched in the big leagues from 2010 to 2019. Both attended Bishop

O’Dowd in Oakland.