On February 7th, Chief Rick Barrett of Millis Fire Rescue presented a life saver award to Millis High School junior Sean White, who saved a classmate from choking.
“A lot of people take the training, and not many will ever use it,” said Chief Barrett. “People are hesitant about touching other people. Anytime somebody does that, we’re very grateful. It takes a special person to put themselves out there and go for it. A high school student doing that is great to see. It speaks levels about his maturity and his wont to help, so we’re really impressed by him.”
“I’m very proud of Sean. People don’t know how they’re going to respond in an emergency situation. Some people freeze and some people act, and he responded,” said Millis High School Principal Robert Mullaney, who pointed out that all sophomore physical education classes include CPR and first aid training thanks to PE teacher Scott Kendrick. “(Sean) used the training he received in Physical Education class to assess the situation, asked the right questions and was able to help the student in distress.”
Scott is the youngest of three, and both proud parents attended the ceremony.
“We’re just proud of him. And I think it’s great that Scott Kendrick (teaches) this,” said Sean’s mother, Janine, about the students learning first aid training.
“And the fact that (Sean) acted,” added Sean’s father, John. “He learned it, and did it.”
Sean explained that although he experienced a rush of adrenaline in the situation, he asked the student if he was choking and for permission to do the Heimlich maneuver, which he did, to help him. He added that he hopes he never has to do it again.
“There’s nothing better than having people out there that are trained,” said Barrett. “It goes a long way.”
Millis Student Uses First Aid He Learned in PE to Save Classmate’s Life
Issue Date:
March, 2019
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