Teacher Saves Student From Choking and It Was Caught on Camera

A New Jersey teacher saves her third-grade student from choking by jumping into quick action. A 9-year-old student had a bottle cap stuck in his throat when he tried to open a bottle with his teeth.

Janiece Jenkins, a teacher at East Orange Community Charter School, has been hailed a hero by many after saving the life of Robert Stonaker.

During class, Robert tried to open his bottle with his hands, but was unable to. He then resulted to use his teeth and squeezed, but the cap blew off and lodged in his throat. Once the third-grader realized the cap was stuck to his throat, he ran over to the sink to try and get it out himself, but was fruitless.

In distress, the student rushed over to his teacher, Ms. Jenkins, who quickly performed the Heimlich Maneuver. “I started pointing at my throat, and then she noticed that I couldn’t talk because if I could talk, I would have said it. I wouldn’t point to my throat.” Robert recalled in an interview.

Right after Ms. Jenkins administered the Heimlich and the bottle cap popped out of his mouth, Ms. Jenkins held his face, rubbed his tummy, and wiped his tears away. Ms. Jenkins can also be seen holding his hand even as she reaches for the tissues to wipe Robert’s tears.

“As the thoughts started coming to my head, I was starting to get emotional. I was starting to just get like, what could have happened, how scary that would have been, and I was just thankful he was okay.” Ms. Jenkins told News 12 in an interview.

The local teacher, Ms. Jenkins, who has been a teacher for fourteen years, never thought she would ever use her life savings skills in her classroom. When asked what she thought, she said, “I don’t think I really thought. I think I was just like he needs my help, let me help him and that’s what I did”.

Ms. Jenkins is trained to perform life-saving procedures through her job as a teacher and as a cheerleading coach.

The school where Ms. Jenkins has been a teacher for five years together with the city of East Orange plans to acknowledge her for her heroic actions. When asked about how he likes Ms. Jenkins as her teacher, Robert said, “one million percent.” Not all heroes wear capes.