Roberta Perez was patrolling lunch Friday afternoon when she
heard screams and saw a crowd forming around a student.
Gilroy – Roberta Perez was patrolling lunch Friday afternoon when she heard screams and saw a crowd forming around a student.
“He’s choking! He’s choking,” students yelled.
The Brownell Academy campus supervisor started running and saw sixth grader John Gleaton standing with his backpack on, his arms up in the air waving frantically. She called Sonia De La Cruz, another campus supervisor, on her radio and alerted her to the situation.
When Perez arrived at the scene, wearing her fluorescent orange security vest, students parted so she could get through to Gleaton.
“I took a good look at him and his lips were already turning blue,” she said. “I told him I was going to do something and not to be afraid.”
She removed the backpack from his shoulders, and put her arms around his abdomen – pushing in and rolling her fingers upwards, until a large piece of bread dislodged from his throat and popped out.
The 11-year-old had visited the orthodontist Friday morning and metal brackets were placed around his back molars. He was unaware that he wouldn’t be able to chew certain foods for awhile afterwards.
“It just didn’t go down,” Gleaton said. “It was scary … I told my friends that were sitting next to me and they gave me Gatorade, but that didn’t work.”
He had never choked before and was unaware of what to do when it happened.
But Perez has performed the Heimlich maneuver before and new exactly how to handle the situation.
“I have three children,” she said. “It came natural. I thought ‘I better not panic,’ because I didn’t want to make him nervous.’ ”
Assistant Principal Jim Gama was in his office when he heard De La Cruz radio for support for the school nurse. It was then that he knew something was wrong and rushed outside.
“I’ve never experienced that,” Gama said. “It was a first for me – and I’ve been an administrator for eight years.”
Gama and Principal Suzanne Damm comforted students who were shaken from the display.
He was impressed with the quick response by staff members. The orange vests worn by campus supervisors are a donation from former School Resource Officer Mike Terasaki, and helped them spot each other immediately.
“Our system worked,” Gama said. “When Roberta knew there was a problem she radioed to Sonia (de la Cruz). She said what she needed and why she needed it and was able to disperse the kids … It’s not often that our employees who work so hard get a pat on the back.”
Perez was shy about receiving so much attention from the event, and hid behind her sunglasses and security vest as Gleaton recalled the incident.
The two had never formally met before Friday.
“I see (the students) out there – but he really got my attention,” Perez said smiling at Gleaton. “You know my eyes are going to be on you now.”
