According to Wilkinson Middle School’s Renee Murfitt, there are heroes in her school’s classrooms every single day.
Murfitt, an art teacher, received a lifesaving award on Monday from the Mesquite ISD Board of Trustees for helping a student who was choking in her class.
In late January, Murfitt had given her students peppermints, as she sometimes does while they worked. A few minutes after, she said she noticed a student having difficulty breathing.
After trying to get the student to cough and dislodge the mint, she realized the student’s breathing was getting worse. After calling the nurse, Murfitt took the student into the hall to perform the Heimlich maneuver. After a while, the student worked the mint the rest of the way up and was able to breathe normally again, she said.
“I think the most important thing is to be prepared by knowing what to do in that situation,” Murfitt said. “I think as teachers, we should all be trained in how to take care of something like that so we're ready if it happens. I was lucky to have learned how to do the Heimlich maneuver in different times in my life. I was able to jump right into it.”
Murfitt recalled how she often had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on her daughter when she was an infant, which helped her remain calm and take action in the situation with her student.
“I truly believe that if the teacher did not act quickly and perform the Heimlich along with instructing the student to cough to clear the object that this situation could’ve gone very differently,” Nurse Brittany Artigues said. “Her quick thinking and intervention saved this student’s life.”
Murfitt said while she was surprised and appreciative of being recognized, she did not want to discount the work other teachers in the district do daily.
“I don't think what I did is anymore heroic than what every teacher in my school does every day,” she said. “Every single one of these teachers would have tried to do what I did that day. We love our kids, and everyone who comes in here is trying their best to give these kids what they need to be successful in life.”
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Winston Henvey is the reporter for the Mesquite News, Allen American and Plano Star Courier. Email him with story suggestions at whenvey@starlocalmedia.com.
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