BATON ROUGE - A woman is crediting an East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy with saving her life after she began choking at a local restaurant Friday.

Tracy North took to Facebook Friday afternoon to share the details of her fateful encounter. North says she was enjoying an anniversary lunch with her husband when she began choking on her food.

After water did nothing to clear her airway, North says she ran out of the restaurant and tried to throw the food up. Feeling as if she was going to pass out, North ran back into the restaurant, desperate for help. 

Her husband then attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver to no avail, but two deputies who happened to be seated at a nearby table saw the situation unfold and stepped in to help. 

After a few attempts, one of them was able to clear the clogged airway, allowing North to breathe again. 

On Facebook, she identified the deputy as Shawn Lewis with EBRSO, calling her the "angel" that saved her life.