6th grader hailed as a hero after saving 2 lives in 1 day
Most people can't say that they've ever saved another person's life — then there's 11-year-old Davyon Johnson, who saved two lives in one day.
Davyon is a sixth grader from Muskogee, Oklahoma, who is "always willing to help, always just a friend to everyone," his principal, Latricia Dawkins, told The New York Times. On Dec. 9, Davyon noticed that a schoolmate was choking, and he ran over to assist. Davyon's uncle is an emergency medical technician, and because he wants to follow in his footsteps, Davyon has watched several YouTube videos on the Heimlich maneuver. Using those skills, he was able to dislodge the bottle cap that was stuck in his schoolmate's throat.
Several hours later, Davyon was driving to church with his mother, LaToya Johnson, when they saw smoke coming from the back of a house. While LaToya called 911, Davyon ran to the front door, and alerted the people inside about the fire. Several people ran out, but an elderly woman using a walker was struggling to follow, and Davyon guided her to safety.
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Davyon told the Times he helped his classmate and the woman because it's "the right thing to do." Before he died of COVID-19 in August, Davyon's father, Willie James Logan, ran into a burning building to make sure everyone was out. That's what he was supposed to do, Davyon said, adding, "I look up to my dad."
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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