HOUSTON—Tyler Hudson didn’t exactly know what to call the technique he used to save a classmate’s life, but that didn’t matter. It worked.
And now, she’s a survivor and he—rightfully so— is being recognized as a hero.
The fourth-grader at Frank Middle School in Klein ISD noticed a classmate choking during lunch on Wednesday. While other students thought the girl was just laughing, Tyler said he knew something was wrong when she grasped at her throat and her face began to turn red.
“I put my hands around her under her arms,” he said. “It was just instincts.”
Tyler said he squeezed her abdomen three times, and the Cheeto that was stuck in her throat dislodged.
She swallowed it, and then she could breathe again. Tyler had saved her life—even though he wasn’t sure about the name of his maneuver.
“The hammer,” he said, when asked what the life-saving technique was called.
Call it the hammer or the Heimlich Maneuver—Tyler was sure about where he learned it.
“I was like, ‘How did you learn to do that,’” said his father, Rodney Hudson, a Houston firefighter. “And he was like, ‘You, daddy. You.’”
“He said, ‘Yeah, Dad does the hammer move on me all the time,’” Tyler’s mom, Christina Hudson, said of the father-son wrestling matches at home.
“I think he’s wonderful. I think he’s a hero,” said Frank Elementary Associate Principal Theresa Scardino. “We’re all very proud of him. And the fact that he took it upon himself to be that responsible says a lot about his character.”
“Very proud, very proud, very proud Dad,” added Rodney Hudson.
“I’m still on a high. I’m just so excited,” said Christina Hudson. “I’m just so amazed and I’m like, wow, he’s just so awesome and I hope this is a defining moment for him. Maybe he wants to be a doctor.”
The girl Tyler saved didn’t want to be interviewed, but she did thank Tyler in private and had a thank-you message read on the school public-address system.
“It feels like I’m the king of the world,” Tyler said of the adoration that has followed.
When asked if his quick actions should serve as a lesson for other students, Tyler went with his instincts again, and said this:
“They should know that you should always watch out for your friends no matter what happens.”
So no matter if you call it the Heimlich, no matter if you call it the Hammer—call it whatever you want.
The important thing is that when it’s over, you can call someone a survivor, and someone else a hero.
(via khou.com)
