QUINCY (WGEM) – It’s a nightmare for any parent to hear on the first day of school that their child suffocated at school. For one parent in Hancock County, that was the reality.

Randa Gardner said Southeastern Elementary School in Bowen called her last week about her 3-year-old daughter, Soul. The school told Gardner her daughter had choked on a grape.

“Soul was eating breakfast and started gasping for air,” she said.

Then a school staff member stepped in and immediately intervened by applying the Heimlich maneuver.

“She (Soul) started crying and apologizing,” Gardner said.

For Soul, who was not yet familiar with this environment, this was a traumatic experience.

Gardner said it was an experience no parent wants to go through, but fortunately everything turned out OK.

A staff member jumped in to save the situation. JD Stonecypher of the American Red Cross said everyone should learn the Heimlich maneuver because every second is critical when someone is choking.

“You should immediately perform what we call backstrokes, which involves gently bending the child forward, supporting his body and delivering gentle strikes,” Stonecypher said.

Stonecypher said call 9-11 and in the meantime do what you can to help the child.

“They should be encouraged to keep coughing because that means they’re continuing to get air into their airways and they can expel it, usually on their own, if they keep coughing…” Stonecypher said.

Gardner said she owes everything to the school employee who immediately intervened to save her daughter Soul’s life.

“She deserves more than the flowers we bought her,” she said.

Tecia Lantz, the district’s superintendent, said she was proud of the employee for stepping in and saving the child’s life.

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