CHESAPEAKE — A student at Southeastern Elementary in Chesapeake is alive thanks to the quick actions of his friend and school security officer who were in the right place, at the right time.
“It was a scary moment for everybody who saw it,” said 9-year-old Cora Dartez.
“It was like sideways in my throat like poking,” said 8-year-old Wyatt Park.
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Just coming back from their holiday breaks, on Jan. 4, third graders Wyatt Park and Cora Dartez were sitting together at lunch when a Dorito from his walking taco got stuck in his throat.
“His face was like, as red as like a tomato,” said Cora about seeing her friend choking. "Literally! It was just like the reddest I've ever seen somebody's face go."
While other friends at the table froze, Cora jumped right into action.
“For a second my mind just was super like was like frozen and scared,” she said. “And then I tried the Heimlich maneuver.”
But when she couldn’t get him to cough it up, she called for help.
“Wyatt was in trouble,” she told me. “And also, I just thought that it'd be the right thing to do, and I’d regret it if I didn't do it.”
“It was all quiet, then all of a sudden, I hear ‘he’s choking!’,'” said Wyatt when I asked him about the situation.
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“So that's when I ran over,” said School Security Officer Gary Little. "And I said, ‘I got it’ and she backed up, and I just gave him the Heimlich."
“Everybody's saying hero, hero," said Little. "And I'm like, no, I'm just doing my job.”
Wyatt went off to the nurse’s office, fortunately quickly recovering from the scary experience, asking for Pop Tarts afterwards.
“I wanted more food,” he told me.
The next day, Wyatt’s mom came on campus to thank Little.
“I’m extremely grateful because if not for both of their parts and this this situation could have turned out entirely different,” said Jody Park.
“All I was trying to do is of take care of my family,” said Little, telling me he treats every student as if they were his own kid. “It’s actually God. He just made sure that everything happened for a reason."
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Little’s help went a long way, so we decided to surprise him with an Everyday Hero Award and a gift card from our community partners at Southern Bank.
“Can you see it on my face? I feel honored,” said Little. “Just thank God that I was there to help you guys. It's hard to describe I'm just thankful. Just thankful I could be used that's all.”
But he wasn’t the only hero that sprang into action that day, so we decided to honor Cora with an award too.
She also received a gift from our friends at the Cinema Café for helping her friend.
“This is such an honor!” she told us. "I'm going to hang this up on my wall in my room."
“You did a fantastic job,” Mr. Little said, hugging his fellow Everyday Hero.
