SOUTHGATE, Mich. – Christina McIver was on her usual route home from Northpointe Elementary when a 7-year-old started choking.
She watched the children exit the bus like a hawk and saw the mom of 7-year-old Skyler, who looked at her with terror in her eyes.
“She turned around to face me, and her mom yelled, ‘She’s choking,’ and instinct just took over, and I ran faster than I ever have,” said McIver.
McIver performed the Heimlich maneuver flawlessly.
Skyler had been sick that day and was terribly congested. A glob of mucus had closed her throat.
McIver managed to dislodge it and then returned to her bus to drive her remaining students home.
Christina Clark, Skyler’s mom, says her blood pressure and adrenaline are still high.
“They haven’t come down yet, I just panicked,” Clark said.
She immediately got her daughter to an ER, and they gave the first grader the all-clear.
“Dean Transportation called me right away, then the principal asking if everything was ok, the whole community has just been amazing,” McIver said.
On Tuesday (April 23) night, the Southgate School Board wanted to thank McIver and her employer, Dean Transportation, for their excellent work.
Superintendent Sharon Irvine thanked McIver for her care and quick actions.
McIver told Local 4 that, outside of the training Dean Transportation gives its bus drivers, she’s never had to do the Heimlich until now.
“Really, I was just doing my job,” McIver said.