Missouri cafeteria worker saves choking student

WENTZVILLE, Mo. — A lunchroom supervisor at a Missouri school is being credited with saving the life of a student, rushing in to help when the fifth-grader choked.

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Danielle Eichmeyer was on duty at Heritage Intermediate School in Wentzville when she saw Shelby Ashen start to choke, KMOV reported.

“I was eating a Lunchable, it had a cracker and cheese, double cheese, so I was eating and I swallowed it whole,” Ashen told KMOV. “It felt like it got stuck … and I tried to get my mom’s attention.”

Ashen’s mother also works in the cafeteria, and raced to help, hitting her daughter’s back, KMOV reported.

When that wasn’t helping, Eichmeyer jumped in. “I started doing the Heimlich maneuver, and I did it a couple of times, and it didn’t work, so I kind of put my leg between her legs to hike her up a little higher,” Eichmeyer told KMBC. It took three times, but eventually, the food was dislodged.

This isn’t the first time Eichmeyer has saved a choking student. She also raced to help a fourth-grade boy who started choking in her lunchroom in 2014, KMOV reported.

“When I heard she did it before, I’m like Mrs. Eichmeyer is the best teacher, and I’m pretty sure that kid is grateful for her,” Ashen told KMBC.

Eichmeyer told KMOV she does first-aid training every year, but never imagined she would use it to save two students.

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