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Clinton Township school principal saved choking student
8-year-old Piper Irwin just wanted to take a drink of water, but the top of the plastic bottle got caught in her throat.
(FOX 2) - Miami Elementary School is part of the Chippawa Valley schools and was the center of attention on Oct. 8. That day in Miss Lindstrom‘s second grade class, a child began to choke.
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8-year-old Piper Irwin just wanted to take a drink of water, but the top of the plastic bottle got caught in her throat.
"I was just opening the water bottle and I forgot about the top and I squeezed it so hard to get caught in my throat," she said.
The teacher knew what to do — she used her walkie-talkie and a quick call to Principal Katie Shellabarger to the rescue.
"Piper was very nervous," Shellabarger said. "She had a terrified look at her face. She couldn’t talk to us. She could breathe slightly, but she couldn’t get any words out, and you could tell she was very scared and nervous."
However, the principal is part of a District emergency response team with yearly updates on medical procedures — like the Heimlich maneuver.
"So I just put my hand over hand, did inward and upward thrusts into her abdomen. About five or six of them. Then reassessed. She was still able to breathe."
Then she started coughing, a good sign, and then they said the bottle cap came out into the garbage.
911 did come as a safety measure — but Piper was fine.