Girl saves best friend from choking the day after learning Heimlich maneuver
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Just one day after learning the Heimlich maneuver, third-grader Shailyn Ryan was able to use her new skill to save her best friend's life.
Ryan and Keira Silvia were eating lunch last week at Marguerite Peaslee Elementary School in Northboro, Massachusetts, when Silvia's face turned red. Ryan could tell Silvia was choking on the hot dog she had been eating, and quickly jumped up and started to give the Heimlich maneuver, just like she had been taught.
Thanks to her friend's quick thinking, Silvia was able to cough up the hot dog. Her mother, Noel, told CBS Boston she is "so thankful, there are no words." Ryan has been taking safety courses at the Northboro Recreation Center, and because of her training, "I wasn't nervous because I knew how to do it," she said. Catherine Garcia
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
