“I have a surprise for you. Close your eyes.”
Cassidy, a second-grade student at Central Elementary School, proudly presented school paraprofessional Michelle Hineman with a handmade “thank you” card as they shared a special lunch together on Monday.
The two have formed a special bond after somewhat of a scary situation last week during lunch.
Cassidy began to choke on a chunk of hot dog. Hineman, noticing that something was wrong with Cassidy, approached her, realized she was choking and administered the Heimlich maneuver. With three sharp thrusts, the chunk of hot dog came out and Cassidy took a deep breath of relief.
“You just go from zero to 1,000,” said Hineman, who is a paraprofessional and bus driver for the district.
Luckily, Cassidy didn’t suffer any injuries from the scare. The school called home and also brought in Nurse Peggy to make sure everything was all right. In fact, when asked if she wanted to go home, Cassidy said that she wanted to stay at school and learn.
The situation was a testament to the importance of the CPR and first aid training that is administered to faculty and staff. Although there is no way to be fully prepared for when an emergency strikes, that didn’t stop Hineman from responding immediately.
“The school provides CPR and first aid training and EpiPen training – all of it,” Hineman explained. “As a bus driver, we have kids with allergies and we have kids that might sneak food. You never know what you’ll run into. I’m just very thankful that, as a district, they have taught all of the bus drivers that piece of it and I was able to actually use it to help Cassidy.”
Cassidy said that it was pretty scary and afterward, both her and Hineman shed tears of relief. She learned a lesson to always take small bites. But, the whole ordeal hasn’t stopped Cassidy from eating one of her favorite foods: hot dogs.
“I still love them,” she said with a grin.