A Texas high school cheerleader became ‘Hero’ of the town after saving the life of a 2-year-old boy during the Rockwall High School homecoming parade.
Tyra Winters, 17, was waving to the crowd sitting on the float and she noticed a mother was yelling as her son choked on a piece of candy. Without thinking twice, Winters jumped off the moving float and rushed to the boy, tilted him down and gave him a few back thrusts until he stopped choking.
”There was no coughing, there was no breathing,” Clarke’s mother, Nicole Hornback, told NBC affiliate KXAS. “He was just physically choking, just gagging, and just gasping for air.”
”I literally ran from bystander to bystander, just trying to pass him off to whoever would take him,” she added. “But I was so distraught, I couldn’t speak.”
That is when Winters decided to help the boy and saved his life.
”I immediately jumped off the float, I ran down to the kiddo, and I was like, ‘I got him,’ and I grabbed him from the mom. I grabbed him and tilted him and I gave a good three back thrusts and he ended up spitting up,” Winters explained to KTVT.
Hornback said that she was taken aback by the whole situation.
”To feel so useless as a mother was the most terrifying thing in my life,” she told KXAS.
According to the outlet, Winters wishes to be a pediatric surgeon in the future and has been trained in CPR and the Heimlich maneuver. Her mother operates a group home for foster children.
Hornback said that she didn’t get a chance to thank Winters and posted a message on Facebook to share the details of Winters’ brave act. When school administration noticed the post of the mother they decided to plan a meeting for Winters and the Hornbacks at the school.
Winters gave Clarke a high-five at their reunion and Hornback said, ”I don’t really have any words,”
”The words that you would say to anyone who does something for you is thank you. But that doesn’t seem good enough.”
Winters said that she is happy that Clarke is fine.
”I know they’re calling me the town hero,” she told KXAS. “It’s super exciting to own that title. But, most importantly, I’m just glad the boy is okay.”
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