A fourth grader is being called a hero after she rushed to save a classmate who was choking on Tuesday.For Essence Collier, lunchtime at her elementary school took a sudden and serious turn. “I just saw that she was holding her neck, and I rushed up there as fast as I can,” said 9-year-old Essence.Teacher Samantha Bradshaw was filling-in during lunch in the classroom. “Out of nowhere, I see Essence get up, and kind of dart across the classroom,” Bradshaw said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I kind of said, ‘stop.'”But before anyone else realized what was happening, Essence reacted.”I see her go to the other student and wrapped her arms around her and performed the Heimlich maneuver on her,” Bradshaw said. “I have never seen a student react in that way before.”The classmate’s airway was cleared and within seconds, the girl was breathing fine.Essence and her classmates would not normally have been in their classroom at that time. They would have been down the hall in the lunchroom. But Tuesday was Election Day and the cafeteria was being used as a polling place, putting Essie at her desk and in the right place at just the right time. Essence said that she learned the skill two years earlier from an instructional video that teaches children how to do the Heimlich maneuver, and the lesson stayed with her.The local school board plans to honor Essence for her heroics at a board meeting in late November.
A fourth grader is being called a hero after she rushed to save a classmate who was choking on Tuesday.
For Essence Collier, lunchtime at her elementary school took a sudden and serious turn.
“I just saw that she was holding her neck, and I rushed up there as fast as I can,” said 9-year-old Essence.
Teacher Samantha Bradshaw was filling-in during lunch in the classroom. “Out of nowhere, I see Essence get up, and kind of dart across the classroom,” Bradshaw said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I kind of said, ‘stop.'”
But before anyone else realized what was happening, Essence reacted.
“I see her go to the other student and wrapped her arms around her and performed the Heimlich maneuver on her,” Bradshaw said. “I have never seen a student react in that way before.”
The classmate’s airway was cleared and within seconds, the girl was breathing fine.
Essence and her classmates would not normally have been in their classroom at that time. They would have been down the hall in the lunchroom. But Tuesday was Election Day and the cafeteria was being used as a polling place, putting Essie at her desk and in the right place at just the right time.
Essence said that she learned the skill two years earlier from an instructional video that teaches children how to do the Heimlich maneuver, and the lesson stayed with her.
The local school board plans to honor Essence for her heroics at a board meeting in late November.
