EVERETT, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- A custodian at an Everett school earned another title on the job – hero.
John Marazzi works at Whittier School, and on Tuesday he helped save a child choking on her lunch.
“I saw her point at her throat and she grabbed both of her hands and started doing this, and to me that's the universal sign for I can't breathe,” Marazzi said.
A piece of a chip had gotten stuck in Mikayla Dasilva’s throat.
“I was super scared I would die,” she said.
After the third grader put her hands to her throat, and Marazzi came to the rescue.
“I immediately ran over and started giving her the Heimlich,” Marazzi said.
The chip came out, and the girl gulped in some air.
“I thought I would never breathe again, and then I breathed,” she said.
Marazzi knew exactly what to do because he has done this before. When he was a hockey referee years ago, he did the Heimlich on a player choking on his mouth guard.
“Anything you can do to help a kid,” Marazzi said.
Once he helped save Mikayla, Marazzi returned back to work and the little girl finished her lunch. But she learned a valuable lesson from her mom that night.
“She said I have to chew my food better,” Mikayla said.
Cox Media Group
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