School resource officer honored for saving student from choking
Aug 7, 2006
DeKalb Count, Georgia - A DeKalb County Schools resource officer was given national honors for saving a boy's life.
Jeremy Tims says it was one of the scariest days of his young life. "There's this boy named Zachary. And sometimes I like to play with him. And if I died, I wouldn't get to play with him again," said Tims.
Tims choked on a large piece of candy on March 9th while sitting in his third grade classroom at Crossville School. "It went down in my throat and then I was struggling because it was hard for me to breathe," said Tims. Luckily, Deputy Chip Richards was just across the hall. "Yes, it was scary. When you see a child choking and you're out of breath, can't get your breath, or for whatever reason. Yeah, it would be scary. It'd be scary for anybody," said Richards.
Richards kept his cool and jumped into action. "He did the thing where he grabs a hold of your belly and then jerks it," said Tims. Richards performed the Heimlich Maneuver on Tims. He says he didn't think much about it until Tims' father made sure the proper authorities knew Richards saved his boy's life. "Words can't express the feelings that I have for Chip Richards," said Bobbie Long, Tims' father.
Richards was given a very special honor at the DeKalb County Teachers In-Service Meeting on Monday. He received a National Medal of Valor from the National Association of School Resource Officers for his heroic actions. "I'm overwhelmed by this. I never thought anything like this would ever come of an incident that happened with Jeremy. It's overwhelming. I'm humbled and honored," said Richards. Richards is one of four people honored with National Medal of Valor.
WorldNow and WAFF, a Raycom Media station.
Retrieved August 11, 2006 from http://www.waff.com/Global/story.asp?S=5250617