A young motorcyclist has been praised for saving a choking child on Hungary’s Route 4 after reportedly being the only person to stop and help as around 30 cars passed the distressed family.

The incident happened on Friday on the stretch of Route 4 between Nyíregyháza and Kisvárda, according to the National Ambulance Service. The boy had been travelling in the back seat of his family’s car when he suddenly choked on food and began struggling to breathe.

His mother pulled over and got out of the vehicle with her son, but said she completely froze in the stressful situation. Then a motorcyclist stopped.

Motorcyclist immediately stepped in

The motorcyclist took the choking child and began providing first aid. He continued until the obstruction was cleared and the boy was able to breathe again. The whole incident happened so quickly that the family did not even manage to ask the motorcyclist his name before he left.

The National Ambulance Service subsequently shared the family’s account and praised the unknown passer-by for stepping in when help was urgently needed. The service said it was proud of members of the public who have the courage to act and provide assistance in an emergency.

The motorcyclist was later identified as Attila Horváth, who came forward in a Facebook video and confirmed that he was the person who had helped the boy.

“I’m not a hero”

Horváth said he had asked the boy’s mother to remove the appeal looking for him because he did not want the incident to become a sensation. According to the motorcyclist, helping someone in danger should be an everyday and natural thing to do.

He said he regularly travels between 20,000 and 40,000 kilometres a year and often encounters broken-down cars or people lying on the roadside while other motorists simply continue driving.

“This time, around 30 cars went past us, and nobody stopped to help,” he said.

Horváth also pointed out that basic first aid, including the Heimlich manoeuvre, is taught as part of obtaining a driving licence. He urged people not to automatically assume that someone lying by the roadside is drunk. The person could have suffered a head injury, a stroke or a heart attack, and the intervention of a passer-by could save their life.

“This doesn’t make anyone a hero. I’m not a hero either,”

Horváth said, arguing that paramedics, firefighters and police officers who risk their own lives to save others are the real heroes. Simply being in the right place at the right time and offering assistance, he said, should not be treated as extraordinary.

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“If one person listens, we’ve succeeded”

Horváth asked people not to simply like his video, but to share it so that its message about helping others reaches as many people as possible. “If just one person takes this to heart and we save another life, then we’ve ended the day successfully,” he said.

The National Ambulance Service also said it wanted to find the motorcyclist after hearing the family’s story. What began as a search for an unknown passer-by has now ended with the family learning the identity of the person who intervened when their young son was unable to breathe. The incident is also a reminder that in an emergency, stopping to help can make the difference between life and death.

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