She rescued him from a sticky situation!
A heroic Long Island teacher saved the life of a 7-year-old student who was choking on a gummy treat by quickly performing the Heimlich maneuver on him — and got a heartfelt thank you gift from the youngster.
Snack time in Alessia Hoffman’s second grade class at Charles Reinhard Early Childhood Center in Bellmore nearly turned tragic on Jan. 6, when little Anderson Forman got an Annie’s Sour Bunnies fruit snack lodged in his airway, Hoffman and the boy told The Post Wednesday.
“It was very scary,” Hoffman, 27, said. “As nervous as I was, I tried to stay as calm as possible.”
Hoffman knew the youngster couldn’t breathe when she asked if he was okay and he wasn’t able to speak.
“He shook his head no. He wasn’t able to verbally tell me that, so that was a little alarming,” she said.
“I tried to pat him on the back first to see if that could help. It didn’t, ” she said. “I quickly realized that I had to get down and do the Heimlich maneuver.”
She sprang to action, performing three upward thrusts on Forman’s abdomen.
“He is small, he’s a child, so I got onto my knees, and within three times, the fruit snack that he ate for a snack came right up,” said Hoffman.
The boy — who loves tennis and food, and has a big appetite — was soon breathing again, and was back to his upbeat and “funny” self, said Hoffman.
“He didn’t cry…He was even just smiling right after. That’s just his personality. So he’s really, really impressive,” she said.
It was Hoffman’s first time doing the Heimlich, and she credits annual school trainings for keeping her cool-headed in the moment.
Forman, who walked away with no injuries, said he was grateful to his teacher.
As a thank-you gesture, he and his family gave Hoffman a gift card to Chick-fil-A — which she’d previously told the class was her favorite food — and a necklace.
“She’s a big fan of Chick-fil-A, and she saved my life,” Foreman said, adding he now wants to learn the Heimlich to help others if they’re choking.
“It means you care about them,” he said.
Despite the frightening experience, Forman said he has no problem chowing down on Annie’s Sour Bunnies — though his mom, Ana Forman, says she no longer sends the treat to school with him.
“As a parent, you always hope that when your kid goes to school, they’re in safe hands. What happened really just reinforced what great care our kids are under,” she said, adding she feels deep “gratitude.”
