13-year-old Brandon Williams was eating lunch when he noticed that classmate Jessica Pellegrino was choking on a piece of apple.
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Brandon, who has autism, immediately jumped up, wrapped his arms around her mid-section, and gave a sharp thrust to her diaphragm, causing the stuck piece of apple to come flying out.
The student at Barnes Intermediate School, in New York City, says he learned the Heimlich maneuver from the popular cartoon “SpongeBob SquarePants.”
Brandon’s dad told Staten Island Advance: “He picks up on things that most of us would miss, and files it all away in his head, and he can recall it all in an instant. That’s how he knew instantly what to do. And we’re glad he did. We’re proud of him.”
Williams’ and Pellegrino’s seventh-grade class had a party to celebrate the teenager’s heroism. And many of the teachers wanted to give Brandon a medal for his quick thinking. His response? “I don’t need a medal. I’m good, I’m good.”