East Nashville School Resource Officer Saves Choking Student

EAST NASHVILLE, TN — After sitting down with her friends for lunch Monday at East Nashville High School, Ashley Woods was eating pizza, as she'd no doubt done dozens of times before.

"We were having a conversation and I ended up talking. When I spoke the food had got stuck in my throat where I couldn't breathe or talk," Ashley told NewsChannel 5.

For what was no doubt the longest two minutes of her 14 years, Ashley couldn't breathe. She started to fade in and out of consciousness.

"I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to die in my mindset, I didn't know exactly what to do," she told the station.

It was then that School Resource Officer Quinn White sprung into action, pulling Ashley out of her chair and administering the Heimlich maneuver. After 10 abdominal thrusts, the food became dislodge and Ashley recovered.

“I’ve never had to administer the Heimlich maneuver, but it just shows that every day truly is different,” White told WSMV.

On Wednesday, Ashley's mother, Quantrissa, met Officer White.

“You're just her guardian angel,” she told him.

"I was thankfully able to be in the right place at the right time," White said, according to Metro Nashville Schools.

"My partner and I work really hard every day to build relationships with these kids to let them know that we're here for them and that we love them," the SRO told Channel 5.

Image via Metro Nashville Public Schools