The editor of the Southern Daily Echo had a painful reminder of howwilling his staff are to support him when he found himself literallyfighting for his life in the office.

Ian Murray, editor of the Southampton-based regional daily for fouryears, found himself in difficulty when he accidentally swallowed the endof his ballpoint pen.

Accidental hero

As he choked staff rushed to his aid, including deputy news editor RonWain (left) who carried out the Heimlich manoeuvre in an attempt to dislodgethe plastic cap from Ian’s throat.

In the end the offending pen end was swallowed but not before Ron’sbear hugs had left Ian with a cracked rib.

The incident came at the end of an eventful 24-hours for Ian and hissenior team who had just returned from a break-out session to Francewhere they had missed the evening ferry home and been forced to travelovernight.

“To say it was a hectic day is an understatement. What began as ateam-bonding exercise to Normandy ended with us bonding more than any ofus thought likely.

“Luckily everyone was very good about findingthemselves stuck in Cherbourg for the evening and happily the ferrycompany laid on cabins for us all,” said Ian.

“It was after arriving back in the office I swallowed the tip of my penwhile talking to the chief sub. All I can recall is that I couldn’tcatch my breath.

“Then Ron dashed in and offered to help and I agreed.

“I’m really grateful to him for having a go. At the time I couldn’t seemto breath at all.”

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