Quick-Thinking 12-Year-Old Hero Performs Heimlich Maneuver, Saves Choking Classmate

Students Ethan Williams and Bryce Henry of Horsham, Pennsylvania were on their lunch period when Henry suddenly began to choke. Luckily, Williams knew the Heimlich Maneuver and saved his friend from a near-death experience. 

The seventh-graders were enjoying their free lunch period as 12-year-olds do when Henry got an apple lodged in his throat. According to WPVI, a few concerned students started to crowd Henry when Williams stepped in to perform the maneuver, successfully dislodging the apple from Henry’s throat. 

"While I was choking, everything was a little bit blurry and stuff. He, like, grabbed my stomach and I didn't know what was happening," Henry told the outlet. "And then he did the Heimlich. He literally saved my life."

Williams told the station he learned the Heimlich a year prior from his sixth-grade family and consumer sciences teacher, Maureen Carroll. It was one of the last things she taught during her 26-year tenure as an educator. 

“I'm so proud of him because he listened. He learned. He recognized what was happening and he acted so fearlessly," Carroll told the outlet. "It validates all the hard work that we put into teaching."

Williams said he was grateful he learned the tactic and hopes more students can learn how to perform the Heimlich in case they need to use it on one of their fellow middle schoolers. 

"You don't always have to save someone's life," he told the outlet. "But get to know people. Get to know the person because then, when they need you the most, you can be there for them."