An Arizona second-grader was hailed a hero and honored at an all-school assembly last week for his quick thinking when he saved a friend who started choking on his lunch during class.
Thomas Conley, an 8-year-old student at Porter Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, was enjoying his usual lunch with his friend Isaiah on Nov. 14 when his classmate suddenly stood up and tripped over a bench. .
“I heard him crying and I was like, 'What's wrong?'” And for a second, I didn't know what he was doing. But in the end, we realized he was choking, so we decided to do a Heimlich,” Thomas said. Kayma.
Isaiah began choking on grapes.
Without a moment's hesitation, Thomas sprang into action, wrapping his arms around his friend's stomach from behind. Within seconds, he manages to remove the grapes from Isaiah's throat, saving his life.
“I'm so grateful. I just wanted him to know how proud I was of him and how grateful I was,” Isaiah's mother, Maria Anderson, said in a video posted by the Mesa Fire and Medical Department. “It is,” he said. “He and my son have been friends for many years.”
Thomas' mother Candice Conley told Fox News Digital Since they both work in the food industry, it was easy for them to teach food and kitchen safety at home. They fully recognized the skill and courage essential to their son's arsenal.
“I think a lot of people, maybe even adults, don't realize that someone is choking. Thomas knew he had to let air in to get the grapes out,” Conley said. spoke.
“We're so proud of him,” his mother added jubilantly. “Thomas is very quick-witted, active and a really good friend.”
But Thomas didn't think what he had done was that big of a deal.
“That's because I don't want Isaiah to die,” Thomas told KYMA.
His mother added that Thomas was usually “very calm” about the ordeal.
School officials sadly know how important it was for the 8-year-old to take action immediately.
Kathy Ray, principal at Porter Elementary School, told KYMA that a similar, but more tragic, situation in which a special needs student suffocated to death in the cafeteria had been going on for nearly seven years at Porter Elementary School. told.
So the school rolled out the red carpet to celebrate Thomas' fearlessness.
Last Tuesday, the Mesa Fire and Medical Department presented Thomas with a public conduct certificate in front of all of his colleagues.
“Thomas turned an ordinary lunchtime into an extraordinary act of courage that made a huge difference. Seeing his friend in pain, Thomas wasted no time in taking action and saving himself from a choking accident. He saved Isaiah's life.” Mesa Fire Department wrote.
“Join us in celebrating this young hero. Thomas, you inspire us to act courageously and quickly.”
