An Arizona second-grader was celebrated as a hero — and honored at a school assembly last week — for his quick thinking after saving his friend who started to choke on his lunch during the school day.
Thomas Conley, an 8-year-old student at Porter Elementary School in Mesa, Ariz., was enjoying lunch alongside his friend Isaiah just like he would any other day when on Nov. 14, his classmate suddenly stood up and stumbled over the bench.
“I heard him crying, so just like, ‘What’s wrong?’ And for a second, I didn’t know what he was doing. But finally, I realized that he was choking, so I just decided to do the Heimlich,” Thomas told KYMA .
Isaiah had started choking on a grape.
Thomas, with little hesitation, sprang into action and wrapped his arms around his friend’s abdomen from behind. Within seconds, he managed to dislodge the grape from Isaiah’s throat, saving his life.