Warwick Teacher Saves Third-Grader Choking During Snack Time: Report

WARWICK, RI — A Cedar Hill Elementary School teacher is being hailed a hero after saving the life of a third-grade student who choked on a stalk of celery during snack time, according to a WPRI report.

Speaking to the outlet, the teacher, Tracy Peasley, said that she knew little Eli was in trouble when she looked at him and saw his hand over his throat.

" ... I walked over to him and I said, 'Eli, honey, are you choking?' And he nodded," Peasley told WPRI. "So he did the right thing by putting his hand on his throat … because I probably would not have known that he was choking because it was silent."

To save Eli, Peasley told the outlet she performed the Heimlich maneuver — a first-aid method for choking also known as abdominal thrusts — for the first time in her 30 years as a teacher.

"It did just come right back to me," Peasley said.

Read the full report in WPRI.