Middle School Student Rescues Classmate From Choking, Pair Are Best Pals After

Dec 12, 2021 by apost team

Making friends at any age can be tricky, especially for kids in middle school. Sometimes it can be hard for children who are typically more on the shy side to open up and talk to their classmates, even if they've known them for years and years. Fortunately, everything happens for a reason, and some people are just destined to become best friends.

This was the case for sixth graders Arad Arbasi and James Dawson. The two have been classmates for quite some time, but they only recently formed a beautiful friendship with each other. It all happened during lunch one day at Robinson Middle School in Plano, Texas, in November 2021. James was eating his lunch when a piece of plastic wrapper got stuck to the bottom of his food and ended up going down his throat. The young boy couldn't breathe, and immediately began choking.

Thankfully, Arad had been walking by the area where James was sitting and noticed that he needed help. He knew just what he had to do, and quickly started giving James the Heimlich maneuver. Finally, the piece of plastic that was lodged in James' throat was freed, allowing the boy to breathe once again.

Although the incident was pretty scary, it had a happy ending and resulted in Arad and James becoming best friends. Now, the pair has fun and looks out for each other, making sure that it's nothing but smooth sailing for the future of their friendship. Read on to find out more about this new friendship between two middle school students.

The Beginning Of An Amazing Friendship

What started as a normal day at school quickly became a terrifying situation for James, as he began choking on a piece of plastic wrapper that had gotten stuck to the food he was eating, according to WAAY-31. "It felt sharp in my throat," he said. "Very sharp. And it was just hurting."

He had been sitting alone at a lunch table and couldn't breathe. "I was like, Oh, shoot, I'm gonna die," James said. "I'm gonna choke." Arad had been walking past and noticed James struggling to breathe. He said that James' face had been completely purple. Thankfully, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

"So I run behind him and I start doing the Heimlich maneuver, and I eventually hear him yell, 'It's out! It's out!'" Arad said. James could breathe once again. According to WAAY-31, Arad had learned the technique a few years ago from a book his mom bought him, and recently saw a video about it, too. Speaking about Arad with CBS 11, James said, "He knew what to do, and I'm glad he knew what to do. Otherwise I probably wouldn't be talking."

When Frances Salinas, James' mother, found out that an 11-year-old saved her son's life, she immediately went online to let Arad's parents know about the incredible deed he had done. She received a response from Arad's parents shortly after, and just like how Arad and James became friends, Salinas and Arad's parents did, too. "The whole choking situation, you know, made our friendship quite better," Arad said. Now, the two boys are sure to always look out for one another.

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