Teacher assistant saves Abner Creek Academy student from choking

Oct. 16--Despite the student chatter and clatter of lunch trays, Tami Gosnell heard something in the cafeteria at Abner Creek Academy last month that made her take notice.

Loud, insistent coughing. The kind of labored struggle to breathe that sends chills through every parent.

Gosnell, a third year autism support teacher assistant at Abner Creek Academy, might have been the only person besides fourth-grader Hunter Peery who realized Peery was choking.

"It happened in the blink of an eye," Gosnell said. "I realized he was coughing hard, and he was red, and then he just stopped and kind of looked at me. I knew his air had stopped moving."

Gosnell said instinct kicked in, and she made her way to Hunter -- she said she was so focused on the boy she may have put her hands on other students to get to him -- and told him he was going to be OK.

That's when Gosnell went to work, wrapping her arms around Peery from behind and pulling sharply, performing the Heimlich maneuver. Two sharp thrusts and Hunter was able to breathe again.

"I just kind of kept him wrapped up and said, 'You're good now, you're good," Gosnell said.

The Sept. 26, incident was captured on video by the school's camera system and shows a deceptively calm Gosnell moving across the floor to Hunter, with additional personnel rushing to their side seconds later.

As the adrenaline wore off, Gosnell said she cried.

"It hit me immediately, it could have turned out very differently," Gosnell said.

Abner Creek Academy Assistant Principal Shayne Daugherty said Spartanburg School District Five personnel undertake training to handle these situations, on the hope that training will be ingrained enough to deal with an on-the-fly emergency like Gosnell faced.

"It's about being aware of what's happening around you," Daugherty said. "She was on cafeteria monitoring duty, and she was aware enough of her surroundings, and she jumped right in like it was instinct. I'm proud of the way she went right to it."

Personnel are trained on basic lifesaving techniques, Daugherty said, like CPR, the Heimlich maneuver and the use of tourniquets to stem bleeding should that be necessary. The training and re-certification, is important work, he said, but said he occasionally hears comments from staff about how unlikely it is the training will ever be put to use.

"I don't think that'll be an issue anymore," Daugherty said. "I think this is a real-life scenario that we can point to for exactly why that training is so essential."

Gosnell was recognized for her actions by the Greer Police Department Wednesday, along with the school and Peery's family.

Shanai Peery has four children, including Hunter. She described him as the kind of energetic kid who's no stranger to bumps and bruises and routinely receives texts from Abner Creek's nurse about the newest Band-Aid Hunter will be wearing home from school.

But her heart might have skipped a beat when she last received a phone call from the nurse.

"That was a little out of the ordinary, because it's normally a text," Shanai Peery said. "She told me there'd been a little incident and explained what had happened. I asked Hunter about it when I picked him up that day, and he said his throat hurt, and he understood exactly how serious it could have been."

Shanai Peery said she's grateful Gosnell jumped into action when she did.

"I've told her thank you and that's she's done something for me I can't put a price on," Shanai Peery said. "There's nothing I could say or tell her that could communicate my gratitude to her. If it had gone differently there'd been a hole in my family. I would be mourning for the rest of my life. He's such a wonderful kid, with a wonderful outlook and I'm so thankful he's still here."

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