Lifestyle
Student, 7, Saves Choking Classmate With Heimlich Maneuver
It was just one scene he saw last year and a life was saved that way.
David Diaz Jr., a seven-year-old from New York, has been hailed a hero after he saved a choking classmate during lunchtime at his school with the Heimlich maneuver. The second-grader met the senator after the fact at Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Binghamton.
When asked how he knew about the technique, the little boy credited “The Good Doctor” for teaching him that.
He shared with Fox News Digital, “If anybody is choking or is in danger, you always have to save them. If you don’t, then that could be really sad.”
David said he was watching the medical drama with his dad, David Diaz Sr. He watched it last year, which meant he was only six! And despite the complicated words used in the show, the little boy said that the scene looked “important,” and that’s why he managed to “remember” it.
A teacher from the school explained that David was sitting across from the choking student when it happened.
Korba continued, “The adults were circulating the cafeteria, monitoring. David rushed behind [the choking student] and performed the Heimlich. I went over right after it happened and checked him. He was cleared by the nurse, and parents [were] contacted.”
N.Y. State Sen. Fred Akshar visited the boy who performed the life-saving abdominal thrusts on June 13.
David’s dad also praised him, “I’m very proud of my son. He’s an angel in my eyes. If he’d like to pursue becoming a doctor when he grows up, I’ll be happy to help him achieve that later in life. But it’s really up to him.”
The Heimlich maneuver is a technique that can be performed by someone else or by yourself, under the stern note that the person it’s performed on is conscious.
The key is to put your hand above the navel and form a fist with one hand while the other grabs it tightly. Press against the abdomen in an upward motion and do this in quick succession until the airway is cleared.