A 7-year-old elementary school student is being hailed a hero after he saved his classmate’s life during lunch by using the Heimlich maneuver.
David Diaz Jr., a second-grader from Woodrow Wilson Elementary in Binghamton, New York, stepped into action when he noticed his friend had begun choking on pizza at school.
He said he learned the life-saving move from “The Good Doctor,” a TV medical drama he’d been watching with his father, David Diaz Sr., during the last year.
“If anybody is choking or is in danger, you always have to save them,” David Diaz Jr. told Fox News Digital during a recent phone interview.
“If you don’t, then that could be really sad,” the boy added.
Young David said he didn’t know for sure that he’d be able to save his friend when he put his arms around him. But he hoped that he could — since he was closer to the choking student than his teachers were at the time.
Kristin Korba, a second-grade teacher at Woodrow Wilson Elementary, told Fox News Digital that David had been sitting across from the choking student.
“The adults were circulating the cafeteria, monitoring,” Korba recalled. “David rushed behind [the choking student] and performed the Heimlich.”
“I went over right after it happened and checked [on the student who choked],” Korba added. “He was cleared by the nurse and parents [were] contacted.”
When Korba spoke with David, she learned he had seen the Heimlich maneuver performed on a TV show and made a note to “remember” it, since it looked like something “important” to know.
He was presented with a New York State Senate Commendation Award for his heroic deed.
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This is an excerpt from New York Post.