Photo: Getty
A 9-year-old Tennessee boy is being hailed a hero after some quick thinking helped him save his little cousin’s life via the Heimlich maneuver.
“He was just crying and stomping his feet and holding his throat,” Timothy Prather recalled to Memphis-based stationWREGof his 3-year-old cousin Conner, who exhibited the alarming behavior while the two were at a rodeo together recently with their grandparents.
Conner, both stations report, had a piece of candy lodged in his throat — and Timothy knew the signs of trouble because of a poster hanging in his school’s lunchroom that demonstratedproper technique for the Heimlich maneuver.
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“I took him, and I started pushing his stomach, like this,” the third-grader told WREG of his actions, which helped the candy become dislodged after a short period of time.
The poster (which the little hero recalled during his life-saving actionsalongside related YouTube videoshe’d watched) has been hanging up at Timothy’s school, Ramer Elementary, for 14 years in both the cafeteria and every classroom, thanks to kindergarten teacher Brandi Wardlow.
“We never know when they’re watching, what they’re picking up on,” Wardlow toldWREG. “To think this little poster here saved his cousin’s life, it’s amazing.”
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WREGshared the story on Wednesday via Facebook, where it has received more than 600 reactions and close to 200 shares as of Thursday morning.
“God that’s scary! Way to go Timothy!” said another, while a third wrote, “This is awesome!!! Thank God he knew what to do!!!!”
source: people.com
