2 April 2009
Another Heimlich Hero
Posted by admin under: recognition .
WickedLocal.com’s Kate Sullivan Foley reports that another person owes her life to a Boy Scout’s training and willingness to step up and help.
Ariel Eloi was really scared.
One minute, the 12-year-old Stoughton girl was looking at her homework—the next, she couldn’t breathe.
The kids around her asked if she was kidding around. Ariel put her hands to her throat to indicate she was actually choking. Still unsure of what was going on, the kids offered her water.
Ariel recalled at least two minutes passed before the other kids realized she was really choking and yelled for help.
“I couldn’t breathe at all—I felt like my face was all red,” she said.
Feeling a little weak, she heard a boy tell her stand up.
She moved slowly to her feet. The boy’s arms quickly went around her and administered the Heimlich maneuver.
A moment later, pale and a bit shaky, Ariel looked down to see the chip that had choked her on the ground at her feet.
“I felt a big relief, but my throat hurt a little,” said Ariel, a 7th grade student at a local private school.
Her savior, 17-year-old Shaul Kushinsky, was gone. “I guess I was in a little bit of shock myself—before it happened I was focused on leaving, so I just went ahead and left,” said Shaul.
The two met for the first time last Friday, nearly a week after the frightening incident took place during the Stoughton Public Library’s Monday Night Homework center.
“Thank you. Thank you for saving my life,” said Ariel as she shook hands with Kushinsky.
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Shaul, a junior at Stoughton High School, credited the Boy Scouts for teaching him the lifesaving movement.
“It is something you learn and you practice, but you never hope to use,” he said.
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A Boy Scout since 6th grade, Kushinsky learned the Heimlich in order to earn badges.
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Currently in Boy Scout Troop 54, Shaul was at the library helping out as a volunteer tutor. He is a member of Stoughton High School’s Honor Society.
Three cheers for Shaul Kushinsky and Troop 54 for teaching him skills that allowed him to save a life. Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!
- The Boy Scout Maneuver
- Check Out This Cub Scout’s Abdominals
- Girl Scout Saves
- Financial Literacy Event for Girls
- How to Save a Life
