High School Student in La Crosses Saves Classmate Choking on Cheese Curd
Posted: Mar 24, 2017 6:35 PM CST
LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin high school student is being called a hero for using the Heimlich maneuver to rescue a choking friend in the school cafeteria.
Video of the incident shows several students at La Crosse's Central High School eating lunch when one of them, Will Olson, begins to choke on a cheese curd. After several seconds his friend, Ian Brown, calmly walks over, put his arms around Olson's abdomen, and presses upward several times before successfully dislodging the food from Olson's airway.
Brown learned the technique in a youth program put on by the La Crosse Police Department. He tells ABC News , "I was just doing what I was trained to do."
Olson says he's thankful to have a friend "who had the training to do what he did."