During a math lesson in her classroom at Licking Heights South Elementary in Columbus, Ohio, first-grade teacher Courney Weller was approached by a student. “All of a sudden a student tapped me on the shoulder,” she recalls, “A little boy was standing in front of me red. He couldn't speak. He couldn't tell me what was wrong. He was holding his throat. I knew he was choking.”
Without hesitation, Weller started tapping on the student’s back trying to dislodge whatever he might be choking on. She could see that her students were scared, so she used the Heimlich maneuver on the boy and then, “The marker lid popped out.” And just like that, the terrifying event was over and the student quickly recovered.
Now Weller is being praised for her heroic act, but the humble veteran teacher stresses that she'd do anything to keep her students safe. "It makes me feel happy and proud,” she says, “I never thought I would be able to react in a situation like that in the way I did, so it proves to me that I can." And she’s encouraging others to learn CPR, saying, “This is one that you definitely need to take seriously. It could be a matter of life and death.”
Source: ABC 6 ON YOUR SIDE
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