On Sept. 15 a student at Van Zant Elementary used hand signals to let his friend know that he needed help.
It’s rare when an individual can say they saved a life.
It’s even rarer when the life saved was that of a fifth-grade boy, and rarer still when the person saving that life was a classmate.
Yet despite how unlikely that exact scenario may seem, it took place in the cafeteria of Van Zant Elementary School just a few weeks ago.
On Sept. 15, student Cameron McAndrew was eating lunch as normal when he suddenly began to choke on a nacho chip.
Luckily for Cameron, his fifth-grade classmate and friend Lucas Costa-Carlos was nearby.
This summer, Cameron and Lucas had each been a part of a three-day safety camp run by Evesham Fire-Rescue, and the skills learned there definitely came in handy.
Once Cameron began to choke, he placed both of his hands around his neck to make the universal sign for choking.
Lucas recognized the signal Cameron was making and quickly gave Cameron 12 abominable thrusts as part of the Heimlich maneuver, which then dislodged the chip from Cameron’s airway and saved his life.
“I was very scared when it happened, but now I’m very thankful and happy,” Cameron said.
“I just couldn’t imagine my life if Cameron died,” Lucas said while recalling the incident.
With each boy thinking quick on their feet — Cameron making the signal for choking and Lucas recognizing it and performing the Heimlich — the boys were honored for their actions at a school-wide assembly on Sept. 29.
Although at first the assembly was presented as a normal school assembly, Lucas and Cameron were eventually called to the front of the room as a surprise where Evesham Fire-Rescue members presented the boys with plaques and made them honorary firefighters.
The Fire-Rescue also presented Lucas with a Citizen Lifesaving Award, Evesham Fire-Rescue’s highest citizen award.
According to Evesham Fire-Rescue Lt. Scott Freedman, who helps run the department’s camp during the summer, the camp has run for about a decade-and-a-half and accepts about 60 kids each year.
Freedman said about 1,000 children have attended the program through the years, with schools in the district helping nominate students to join.
Once the students are chosen, the kids spend three days learning about things such as bike safety, water safety, fire prevention and then topics such as first aid, CPR and the Heimlich maneuver.
“The program is designed to expand our fire safety message that we bring every October during Fire Prevention Month and then add some things,” Freedman said.
Freedman called the story of Lucas and Cameron “remarkable” and said it was a testament to the program and the many members of the department who help support it.
“In our business, a lot of the message that we deliver about safety is delivered through the children, so the children become the carriers of that message, and our hope is that it goes home,” Freedman said.
Freedman said it can be difficult to measure the results of programs such as the department’s summer camp, but those in the department were glad to see a happy ending to this particular story.
“It makes us in the department smile,” Freedman said.
