Torri'ell Norwood's CPR training came at exactly the right moment.
Last month, Norwood, 16, finished a basic life support class at her high school in St. Petersburg, Florida, just one day before she used her new skills to save the life of her best friend, A'zarria Simmons. On Feb. 20, the girls were driving when another car plowed into their vehicle. After Norwood climbed out to safety, she saw Simmons was still in the backseat, unresponsive. Norwood carefully pulled Simmons out of the car and began to perform CPR — after 30 compressions and two rescue breaths, Simmons regained consciousness.
Norwood told CNN she "never would have thought" that out of all her classmates, she would be the one to save someone's life, but Simmons wasn't surprised. "She will always help any way she can, to help anybody," Simmons said.
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Norwood wants to be a nurse, and is part of a program at school that prepares students for careers in health science. Her instructor, Erika Miller, told CNN that when she heard what Norwood did, she was ecstatic. "This is what every teacher dreams of ... that somebody listens, pays attention, learns something," she said. Catherine Garcia
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