Rocky Point Hero Custodian Saves Student From Choking

ROCKY POINT, NY — Rocky Point High School freshman Avery Ward was having a good time sharing French fries with her friends during her lunch period one day last week when she laughed and one became lodged in her throat and she started to choke.

But, thankfully, a quick-thinking custodian leaped into action and was able to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her and restored her ability to breathe.

“I tried to talk, and that is when I realized I couldn’t breathe, and then I started freaking out,” Ward recalled at a news conference on Tuesday NBC reported.

The next thing she remembers is a teacher running over to her and asking if she was okay, and then she “passed out,” according to a report in Newsday.

Custodian Dave Cook ran across the school cafeteria to help the teenager, using the maneuver five times before the food was dislodged from her throat.

“I was thinking about my daughter, Lily, to be honest with you,” Cook told NBC adding, “This is somebody’s daughter and I had to do what I had to do.”

Cook said he was very relieved once Ward was breathing again, and she started to get emotional.

“I’d do it again tomorrow in a second,” Cook told reporters.

Cook said he is grateful for the placement of the Heimlich maneuver posters in the cafeteria that he has walked past daily in his work in the district for over 20 years, and explained that the experience humbled him by bringing back a memory in which he used the same life-saving skill on his 7-year-old son over 17 years ago.

Ward was also humbled by the experience, NBC reported. “Just thank you, honestly,” she said.

Cook was honored for his life-saving efforts by the Board of Education at their meeting on Monday.

He was met with cheers from the audience, and board of education trustee Jessica Ward, Avery’s mother, was especially moved, school district officials said.

Ward told Newsday that the worst part of the ordeal was when she saw her mother run into the school to be with her right after.

“I can’t even imagine what she must have felt,” she said. “Thank God that Mr. Cook was there because, honestly, if he wasn’t there I don’t know what would have happened.”

The high school’s principal, Jonathan Hart, said he and his colleagues are grateful for Cook’s “quick response and decisive actions.”

“We are extremely proud to have him as part of our TEAM Rocky Point High School,” he added.