MESA, Ariz. — It was quick action from a third grader in Mesa who saved the life of his fellow classmate who was choking, leading to him being recognized by Mesa Fire Department Tuesday.
Thomas Conley was seated next to Isaiah Rodriguez in the cafeteria at Porter Elementary School in Mesa on Nov. 14 when he began to choke on a grape.
"I heard him crying, so just like, what's wrong? And for a second I didn't know what what he was doing. But finally I realized that he was choking, so I just decided to do the Heimlich," Conley said.
Conley said he wasn't seated in his typical place in the cafeteria that day, but in one quick motion captured on the cafeteria's cameras, Conley dislodges the grape before staff notice.
"It's because that I don't want Isaiah to die," Conley said.
Porter Elementary School Principal Kathy Ray said she didn't hear about the incident until after school when Isaiah's mom asked to see the video.
"I had to just keep watching it, it was incredible," Ray said. "It was very emotional because seven years to the same month - almost to the day - we did have a student, a special needs student, choke in our cafeteria that did not make it."
Ray said Rodriguez insisted on telling Conley's mom how Conley had saved him.
Ray said Conley's mom had told her how the family had just talked about choking and what to do the night before the incident.
"Just last night at the dinner table we were talking about how easy it is to choke on grapes," Ray recalls Conley's mother telling her. "And that's just like - every hair on my body stood up."
Tuesday, Mesa fire officials awarded Conley with a certificate of appreciation for his "heroic actions" to save Rodriguez.
"You shouldn't be scared to help somebody," Conley said.