A cheerleader has been dubbed a hero after jumping off a homecoming parade float in order to save the life of a young child who was choking in the crowd.
17-year-old Tyra Winters from Rockwall High School explained she was on top of the parade float when she saw a choking toddler in the crowd.
Without a second doubt, the girl jumped off the float and rushed to the boy’s aid. She then performed the Heimlich maneuver until the child threw up and emptied his airways, allowing him to breathe again.
“At this point, he’s kind of turning purple,” Tyra recalled in an interview with ABC News.
“I picked him up and then I tilted him downwards and gave him two or three back thrusts. He then was spitting everything up.”
As Nicole Hornback, the boy’s mother, claimed, she attempted the maneuver herself but was unsuccessful, meaning that the cheerleader was the boy’s last hope for survival.
“I just literally was holding him out and just running through the crowd trying to hand him off to anyone,” Nicole told CBS News.
“I was sitting right next to him. I just happened to look over. There was no noise, no coughing, no breathing.”
The mother has also praised Tyra for being brave and kind enough to take Clarke’s life into her own hands during her performance.
“She saved my baby. I commend her for being a teenager and being trained,” Nicole added.
As for Tyra, she remains humble and happy that she was able to help. “I knew exactly what to do from that point on,” she said.
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