A 13-year-old boy with autism says he performed the Heimlich maneuver on a classmate at his New York City school after learning the technique from “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
on.aol.com
A 13-year-old boy with autism saved a choking classmate with the Heimlich maneuver, a technique he said he learned from the popular Nickelodeon cartoon “SpongeBob Squarepants.”
Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Nickelodeon
Brandon Williams, a student at Barnes Intermediate School in Staten Island, New York, noticed his classmate Jessica Pellegrino choking on a piece of apple. The boy wrapped his arms around the girl’s midsection and began administering the Heimlich maneuver. The action prompted the girl to expel the apple that was lodged in her throat, reports NBC Miami, Nov. 6, 2015.
Williams showed reporters how he dislodged the piece of apple from the girl’s throat: He wrapped his arms around his father Anthony’s midsection and said, “I went like this.” When asked where he had learned the technique, he quickly answered, “Learned it on ‘SpongeBob’!”
“He picks up on things that most of us would miss, and files it all away in his head, and he can recall it all in an instant,” explained Williams’ father. "That's how he knew instantly what to do. And we're glad he did. We're proud of him."
Williams’ classmates threw a party to celebrate the teenager’s heroism. Some teachers and staff said that they believed the teen deserved a medal, but Williams said that was not necessary.
According to Pat DeMarco, the paraprofessional that works with Pellegrino, another special needs student, the teens all sit together at lunch and look out for one another. She was ready to spring into action to help the choking girl, but Williams had sprang up quickly to do the job. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” says DeMarco.
Some have reported that the SpongeBob Squarepants is bad for kids. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Nickelodeon cartoon hampers children's cognitive development. But, that study was done with four-year-olds, instead of the six to eleven-year-olds the cartoon network claims the cartoon is geared towards. Numerous other groups have criticized SpongeBob for promoting ideas about climate change with unfounded science and for homosexual content. In the case of Brandon Williams, SpongeBob is a total win because if he hadn't watched the show, he probably wouldn't have been able to save his friend's life.
No comments:
Post a Comment