Momentarily choking on food is always scary, but a local father says when he started choking a the Fryn’ Pan in Sioux Falls Saturday evening he didn’t know if he was going to make it and he credits a manager for saving his life.

He says he is still trying to figure out how to thank the man who came to his rescue.

“If it wasn't for him, like I said, I know I wouldn’t be here today,” Dustin Beck said.

The Beck family has a lot to be thankful for, especially Dustin Beck who says he wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the help of a manager at the Fryn' Pan Family Restaurant in Sioux Falls.

“I owe that man a lot. I owe him,” Beck stated.

David Beck was eating with his daughter at the Fryn’ Pan on 41st Street when he choked on a bite of food.

“I was completely out of air. I wasn't able to talk, nothing. It was lodged at the very bottom right here. I tried shoving my fingers down my throat to try to dig the meat out and I couldn't,” he said.

He then ran to get help where he found manager Kim Blackburn.

“Just got up and kind of ran around the section area into the kitchen area and that's where I saw Kim, the kitchen manager. And I just started, I said I was choking, trying to get help. I was panicking and freaking out,” he remembered.

The manager tried the Heimlich maneuver three times and eventually dislodged the food.

“I was still fighting for air, I was on my knees, I was shaking,” Beck said.

While this was going on another staff member took beck's daughter out of the room and distracted her.

Beck took to Facebook to say thank you to the manager.

The post has been liked more than 2 thousand times.

“I’m very, very, very grateful, very thankful. I don't know what else to do besides say thank you. I want him to have the attention. I want him to be recognized,” he explained.

Beck says he has received an outpouring of support from his post online.

People who have heard about his story have reached out to put together a gift basket for the manager.