Episode Details

Superintendent Godfrey:
Welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. It was a day in the cafeteria at West Jordan Middle School that some students will never forget. On this episode of the Supercast, hear how a ninth-grade student jumped into action, using a technique he learned in health class, to save the life of his best friend, who was choking. It's a story of heroism and to help teacher lifesaving lessons. We're here with two students at West Jordan Middle School that had an extraordinary experience last week. Tell me your names.

Jackson:  Jackson Johnson.

Hunter: Hunter Olsen

Superintendent Godfrey:
Jackson, and Hunter. So, Jackson, tell us what happened the other day in the cafeteria.

Jackson:
I got my lunch. I sat down and was eating it. I had hiccups throughout the day. So, I hiccup and a piece of chicken got stuck in my throat.  I was trying to see if I could cough it up but nothing happened. So, I turned around and I signaled to my friend "I'm choking" and then he got up and did the Heimlich.

Superintendent Godfrey:
And that's your friend, Hunter, that did that. Did you have to get his attention? What was the choking sign that you gave?

Jackson:
I just put my hands over my throat.

Superintendent Godfrey:
And so Hunter, you see this and what did you do?

Hunter:
My first instinct was just to come up and try to help as much as I could. That was pretty much just it.

Superintendent Godfrey:
So when you walked over to him, what happened? Did you just go right into Heimlich mode?

Hunter:
Yes, pretty much. I had to make sure he was actually choking first because we were all at the table, just laughing, just because we thought he was just choking on something little, like it went down the wrong tube or something. Then he was just coughing over the garbage can.

Superintendent Godfrey:
When you first realized, I'm really choking here, what did you do to get their attention?

Jackson:
Well, they were all looking at me because I thought I was messing around. I turned and I looked dead at Hunter and I started putting my hands over my throat saying "I'm choking" while signaling it. And then he realized it and hopped up. Well, everyone else just thought it was still a joke.

So, I just decided, I'm going to focus on one person and that person is Hunter, and I'm going to make sure I get his attention. Because I knew he would actually do something.

Superintendent Godfrey:
That's pretty awesome. What made you know that Hunter was the guy to take action and save your life?

Jackson:
The two other kids kind of weren't paying attention, and the other one was my brother who, the whole time, was kind of just saying, "Call home", because he really wanted to go home.

Superintendent Godfrey:
Okay. So, Hunter is the go-to guy.

Hunter:
When he turned around, he kind of had a look in his eyes like, "Oh shoot, it's actually in there and I can't get it out myself". So, I thought, okay. I just stepped up and adrenaline shot up. I just went into autopilot I guess, and just did what I learned in health class and I've seen her at work.

Superintendent Godfrey:
So you did feel that surge of adrenaline, you kind of realized, "Hey, something's really wrong here". And have you felt that other times in your life before? Is there a comparable moment?

Hunter:
Yeah, a few