Positivity: Principal saves girl, 10, from choking on pizza
The principal really is her pal
April 12, 2008 - 11:15PMA 10-year-old girl has her principal to thank for quick actions that saved her life.
Kelci Ottwell, a student at North Elementary School, 5600 Godfrey Road, was sitting in the school’s cafeteria last Saturday, eating pizza with friends. Ottwell and her friends are members of Fifth Grade Friends, a group of fifth-graders from the school who volunteer and help out at school events. They were volunteering at North that day to help with the school’s kindergarten registration.
The school provided cheese, sausage and pepperoni pizza for the students. Kelci was eating a slice of cheese pizza from Little Caesars. Her mouth full of pizza, Kelci started to laugh at a friend’s joke but quickly realized she couldn’t breathe.
“I turned purple,” she said. “I was red all over.”
She tried drinking soda to dislodge the food caught in her throat, but it didn’t help. Using all of the strength she had, Kelci got up and made her way to the principal, Brenda Vernatti, who was standing a few feet away. Kelci touched Vernatti’s arm to get her attention.
“I could see she was very distraught the moment I looked at her,” Vernatti said.
Vernatti didn’t think about what to do next - she just did it. She grabbed the bottle of soda from Kelci, turned her around and started to perform the Heimlich maneuver. Vernatti called the assistant principal over to help, knowing that if she wasn’t able to stop Kelci from choking, they would have to call 911.
“When I looked at (Kelci), my biggest fear was that I wouldn’t be able to dislodge it,” Vernatti said.
On the fifth try, Kelci coughed up the pizza. She was scared and shaky, realizing she could have died.
“I had to cry afterward,” Kelci said.
But she was happy to be alive.
“Oh my gosh, I felt great,” she said. “I was really happy. You can’t put a price on life.” …..
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