High school coach honored for saving student choking on a beef stick: ‘I just acted’

West Shore Jr./Sr. High coach Derrick Hamilton has been hailed as a hero after saving a student from choking. Hamilton, popularly referred to as Coach Derrick, was carrying out his regular monitoring of the cafeteria earlier this month when he observed some activity in the lunchroom.

While a few classmates attempted in vain to perform a Heimlich maneuver on the kid who was choking on a Slim Jim beef stick, the coach intervened and successfully saved the student identified by Spectrum News 13 as John Mullen. When EMS arrived, Mullen was reported to be in good condition.

Hamilton told WESH, “Some kid just came out of nowhere, ‘Help my friend, he’s choking, help my friend.’ And that’s when I knew something was going on and I just ran to the kid and you could see he was just standing in distress. I just acted; I just went right to him. I just knew what to do. Instinctively. Then a sausage came out maybe 20 seconds later.”

According to Florida Today, the school’s principal, Rick Flemming, wrote in an email to parents about the incident, noting, “Our very own Coach Derrick Hamilton took matters into his own hands by performing a strong Heimlich maneuver on the student, thankfully dislodging the obstruction. This heroic act was nothing short of a miracle and in the words of the EMS folks that responded shortly thereafter, it saved the life of the student.”

He further said of Hamilton, “It was tragedy averted due to the swift action of our angelic and heroic Derrick Hamilton. He is not only a custodian on our campus but a coach and mentor as well and many students and staff, as well as the victims’ family, are grateful he was there to come to the rescue.”

For students who were disturbed by the event, Flemming added, counseling will be offered.

Meanwhile, the famed coach expressed, “I have helped kids for so long, to me it just seemed like I was doing something normal. I got the scope of it this weekend. A lot of people talked to me this weekend I got the scope that I did something good.”

Hamilton reunited with Mullen a few days after the event, and the two shared an emotional embrace. Mullen told Spectrum News 13 that he tried to swallow the beef stick after fellow students said that wasn’t possible.

Hamilton presently serves as the school’s bowling coach after serving as the basketball team’s coach for ten years.

The Melbourne Fire Department will be bestowing the hero coach with a special award after he was acknowledged and honored in front of the school body during the Spring Pep Rally.