Niagara Falls Student Praised for Quick Action That Saved Classmate’s Life

     A Niagara Falls student is being recognized for his calm and decisive response after stepping in to save a fellow student who was choking during lunch.

     Dan O’Grady, a junior enrolled in Jeff Brown’s Computer Technology program at the Niagara Career and Technical Education Center, was eating lunch at Niagara Falls High School alongside his friend, Welding student Aiden Hewitt, when the situation turned dangerous.

     “We were sitting at a table with our friends just laughing and he was making a strange noise and I realized something was very wrong,” O’Grady said in an interview with Lisa Biolmeier, a public relations specialist for Orleans/Niagara BOCES. “My instincts just took over and I ran behind him in the chair and reached down and started doing the Heimlich maneuver. I was pushing hard on his stomach and I just remember thinking I hope I am doing this right.”

     O’Grady had never received formal training in the Heimlich maneuver, but said he recognized the signs of choking from seeing it depicted on television. Acting purely on instinct, he intervened as Hewitt struggled to breathe.

     “I just went on instinct. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. A lunch attendant ran over because they thought we were fighting. I was trying to explain what was going on. I was so relieved when Aiden started breathing again. They took him over to the nurse’s office. I was shaking so hard afterwards. I think I was in shock.”     Hewitt said the experience was frightening and credits O’Grady with reacting immediately when it mattered most.

     “We have been friends for a couple of years and we were just hanging out and the next thing I felt something lodged in my throat. Dan just jumped up from the table and ran to me,” Hewitt said. “I was really scared and just so grateful that he helped me. It was very scary.”

     Instructor Jeff Brown said the incident highlighted O’Grady’s character and presence of mind under pressure.

     “He is just a great kid and a great student and we are very impressed with his quick response to save his friend.”

     School officials say the outcome could have been far worse without O’Grady’s immediate action.

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Niagara Falls Student Praised for Quick Action That Saved Classmate’s Life