15-year-old saves man in diabetic shock by feeding him snacks

Products are on display at a local convenience store on Aug.8. This photo is not directly related to this article. (Yonhap)

A 15-year-old boy recently rescued a man suffering from a sudden drop in blood sugar at a Daejeon convenience store when he did some quick thinking and fed the man sugary snacks.

Local News 1 reported Thursday that the man had lost consciousness at 8:20 p.m. on Aug. 17 at a convenience store inside the Daejeon World Cup Stadium while he was waiting in line. The man suffered from hypoglycemia and heat exhaustion which caused him to collapse.

Song Min-jae, a student at an Incheon middle school, checked to see if the man was breathing and realized that he was experiencing hypoglycemic shock.

"I heard him say, 'please put something sweet in my mouth' after he fell. I saw the snacks and just fed them to him after I remembered the emergency protocol for such a situation that I learned in school," Song was quoted as saying.

Song took the sugary snacks on display next to him and put them in the man's mouth, and the man regained consciousness soon after.

Diabetic emergencies from a sudden drop in blood sugar can require medication, but quick remedies can include rest and digesting something sugary. A person suffering from a hypoglycemic emergency can be seen sweating, feeling faint and drowsy, or having clammy skin.

The boy had been visiting the stadium to watch a K-League 1 soccer match between the Daejeon Hana Citizen and Incheon United FC, and dropped by the store to buy products during halftime. The home team won the match 2-1.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)