Cedar Hill elementary school teacher saves choking student's life

CEDAR HILL, Texas - It’s the end of the school year at Collegiate Prep Elementary School in Cedar Hill ISD.

Myla May’s last few weeks of second grade have been eventful and emotional.

"I realize don’t eat while you’re talking, so I’ll never do that again," she said.

The same for educator Kimberly Newman-Curtis.

"I don’t even know if she understood the extent, seriousness of what was happening," the teacher said.

On May 13 during lunchtime in the cafeteria, Myla was sitting with friends eating and talking.

"I choked on this piece of bread," she recalled. "And then my friends told the teacher, and then she had to do the Heimlich maneuver."

Myla’s friends became frantic and scrambled to get Newman-Curtis’ attention. She was on lunchroom duty and just a row of tables away.

"I just left everything I was doing and went straight to her. I didn’t hear anything else. I didn’t see anybody else. I was just focusing on Myla," she recalled. "I wrapped my arms around her, and I just started pressing."

The piece of bread lodged in her throat popped out. Myla began talking. An ambulance was called as a precaution.

Myla’s mom, Allexis Sanders, was also called.

"And at that point, I really didn’t process what happened. I just got in the car. I drove straight here," she said. "She’s fine now. Like I said, it can happen to anybody. And if you don’t know what to do, it can be a totally different story."

"In my head, I was thinking it if I hadn’t been there, what if?" Newman-Curtis said. "But I was just grateful and thankful that I was able to do what I was."