A round of applause from a lunchroom filled with students.
A 6th grade teacher from Maine was presented with the national Red Cross Lifesaving Award.
“There are only a handful of these that are given across the country every year, so we are really excited and honored to bestow this upon Mr. Pelletier,” said Caroline King of the American Red Cross.
It was during lunch three months ago, in the very same lunchroom, where John Pelletier stepped in to save a life.
“I was on duty here in the cafeteria, and I happened to walk by Harper’s table, and her friends were hitting her on the back and all of a sudden I turned around, it grabbed my attention — and just pulled her right off the chairs here and just started doing the Heimlich maneuver on her,” said Pelletier.
The student’s parents sat front row as Pelletier was honored.
“I’m blessed that he saw that and that he reacted like he did and he saved her life,” said Matthew Holabird, Harper’s father. “And I owe him, I can’t even, I’m speechless on what I owe that man, but I thank him for it. I’m blessed that he was there.”
Pelletier received a certificate and a bag of goodies from the Red Cross.
He says the real award was that he was able to save the student.
Pelletier encourages others to be proactive and learn life saving skills.
“After doing that, I’m like everybody should at least get their Red Cross certification for CPR or using any safety mechanisms,” said Pelletier.
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