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Top Stories 2012: 'Heimlich Hero' Saves Choking Friend

CORTLANDT, N.Y. – Nicknamed the "Heimlich Hero," sixth-grade Blue Mountain Middle School student Daniel Cunningham made national news when he saved a friend from choking on a piece of hamburger. This story made our top stories of 2012.

Blue Mountain Middle School student Daniel Cunningham, 11, right, with Principal John Owens and Emerson Alcock, 11. Daniel saved Emerson from choking.

Blue Mountain Middle School student Daniel Cunningham, 11, right, with Principal John Owens and Emerson Alcock, 11. Daniel saved Emerson from choking.

Photo Credit: Jessica Glenza

Daniel, 11, performed the Heimlich maneuver on his choking friend, Emerson Alcock, also 11, while the two were headed to recess after lunch.

As Emerson ate the last bite of his hamburger, he began to choke. Daniel told another friend to run for help while he performed the lifesaving maneuver, which he had learned from his older brother. Daniel said that when the piece of burger dislodged from Emerson's throat, it shot almost 3 feet.

"I was thinking what was happening," Daniel said. He knew his friend was choking because "he was, like, showing me with his hands," he said, repeatedly pushing his hands against his chest.

After the incident, the three boys went outside to play football while waiting for the school nurse. In the interim, Principal John Owens became aware of what had happened.

"My first reaction was relief that the victim was OK, followed by pride," Owens said.

Anne Marie Cunningham, Daniel's mother, said, "He just kind of told us the story very causally." She said awareness is a concept that she and her husband reiterate to their sons. In an interview just after the incident, Cunningham said she and her husband are, "just so proud. This is the biggest thing."

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