You might not remember much about your days in elementary school, but you probably remember that a lot goes down at recess. Students at a charter school in Raleigh, North Carolina will certainly remember the day one of their classmates performed a courageous and potentially life-saving act on one of his friends.
Jayceon Branch, 9, was playing basketball with his friend, Donye Moore, 7, during recess at Raleigh Oak Charter Elementary. When Branch noticed his friend struggling to breathe in the middle of the game, he sprung into action.
Jayceon says he knew Donye was eating a snack during the game, so when he saw him stop playing and bend over, he realized he needed help. That’s when he started performing the Heimlich Maneuver, a first-aid technique involving abdominal thrusts that is used when a person is struggling to breathe because their windpipe is blocked, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
“We were playing basketball, and he ate a granola bar, and we started playing longer until he started choking. I didn’t know he was actually, actually choking, so I just did my thing, which was a Heimlich,” Jayceon told WRAL News.
What is even more surprising than the fact that the nine-year-old knew what to do is that he learned the technique online instead of in a CPR class.
“I learned it from watching YouTube because a teacher saw a student choking and the student came to the teacher and started doing this and then the teacher started doing what I did to Donye,” he said.
Donye’s mother, Aja Moore says she’s grateful that Jayceon’s quick thinking helped save her son.
“At first, I wasn’t understanding that he had to be given the Heimlich maneuver or anything like that. It was surprising. I’m just thankful his friend was able to demonstrate that on him,” she told WRAL.
Raleigh Oak Charter celebrated Jayceon’s bravery with a special event. The school’s Executive Director, Eric Johnson, called Jayceon a hero.
“He sprung into action and did his thing. We really try to teach that at our school. ... We’re really proud of him,” he told NBC News.