3rd-grader saves friend from choking by using Heimlich maneuver

An East Orange elementary school student is being called a hero and superstar after she saved her best friend from choking.

Kori Scott says that she and her best friend Astah were eating in the Bowser Elementary School cafeteria when it happened.

“And all of a sudden my friend started choking on a burrito,” Kori says.

Kori says that Astah ran from the cafeteria into the hallway to get some water.

“She forgot she couldn’t drink nothing because she was choking and wasn’t breathing that much,” Kori says.

So Kori says that she chased after her friend because she knew what to do. She says that she even moved her friend’s head away from a railing so she wouldn’t get hurt.

“I did it 1-2-3,” Kori says about performing the Heimlich maneuver. “And food came out.”

The 9-year-old says that she knew how to perform the maneuver because her father did it on her a few years ago and she remembered how. She says that she also attended training classes with her mother, who is a security guard for the East Orange School district.

“It could have ended very [differently’]” Kiana Scott says. “I’m glad Kori was a quick thinker and I’m glad she remembered what her father did when he did it on her.”

Kori says that she is glad that she helped her friend and is basking in the praise.

“I feel happy. I feel that my whole body is full of joy,” she says. “Now everybody who sees me, my grandfather, they want my autograph and say I’m a superstar.”

School officials say that Astah was checked out by a school nurse and her own doctor and was not seriously injured.

Go HERE to watch an extended interview with Kori.