Fifth-grade teacher Alexis Simon is being hailed as a hero at Frank Jacinto Elementary School after her quick and effective actions saved the life of one of her students during a choking incident in her class.
The alarming situation unfolded when a student, identified as Xavion, was eating an orange at his desk. According to a detailed news release issued by the school, the normal snack break took a frightening turn when Xavion suddenly began coughing violently and instinctively held his throat, the universal sign of a blocked airway.
The reactions of some of his young classmates were rather shocking. In the moment of high tension and confusion, several students at first mistook Xavion’s struggle for a joke or prank.
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However, for the teacher, the gravity of the situation was instantly clear. Her training, experience, and sharp observation skills allowed her to immediately distinguish between a joke and a genuine emergency.
Recognizing the seriousness of Xavion’s inability to breathe, she did not hesitate.
“I knew right away he was actually choking,” she said in the release, according to Cleveland.com. “Thank goodness I had been a coach in the district for several years and had first-aid training. I was able to recognize it and knew I needed to do the Heimlich maneuver.”
She quickly got behind Xavion, put her arms around him, and started the Heimlich maneuver.
The situation was frightening and intense because the piece of orange stuck in his throat didn’t come out right away. Simon later confessed the experience was especially terrifying because it felt like it took forever.
“To be honest, it was quite scary,” she said. “It took longer than I anticipated. I had learned the maneuver on bigger bodies, and he’s much smaller — an elementary student. But I was able to get it out.”
After the life-threatening incident, the grateful fifth-grader whose life was saved, publicly praised his teacher, describing her as “a superhero.”
Just recently, Simon was officially recognized for her quick thinking and decisive action in a moment of crisis. The district presented her with the prestigious Catch Being Great recognition, an honor bestowed upon staff members who demonstrate exceptional dedication and heroism.
Principal Christine Miller, who presented the award to Simon, explained that the decision to honor her was an easy and necessary one.
Miller emphasized the importance of publicly acknowledging and celebrating individuals who, like Simon, respond to emergencies without a moment’s hesitation, prioritizing the well-being and safety of others above all else.
Miller stated, “We celebrate when people step in without hesitation to help someone else. To his mother, what she did was nothing short of amazing.”
Simon, however, humbly dismissed the idea of being a hero, believing her swift and selfless reaction was simply what any person would do for a child in distress. “I just did what I would want someone to do for my own child. He was choking, and I needed to save him,” she stated.
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