Cathy Campbell jumped into action without hesitation when she realized Eleanor Lappat could not breathe
NEED TO KNOW
- A Missouri teacher gave the Heimlich maneuver to a preschooler after the toddler began choking at lunchtime
- Cathy Campbell said Eleanor Lappat had a piece of strawberry lodged in her throat, but used her certified safety training to save the toddler
- “She truly has given me my baby back,” said Lappat’s mom
A Missouri teacher is being hailed a hero after saving a preschooler who was choking on her lunch.
It was lunchtime at the Early Education Center in Gladstone when teacher Cathy Campbell heard her colleague let out “a little scream,” according to a news release shared by the North Kansas City school district.
Campbell said she “looked over” and quickly realized her student, Eleanor Lappat, was choking on a piece of strawberry.
Without hesitation, Campbell ordered someone to call 911 while she raced over to the toddler and began delivering the Heimlich maneuver. But she feared her efforts were “not working” due to the child’s size.
Just before attempting to try something else, Lappat “coughed the strawberry up," Campbell said.
“I still look back on that moment and was like, ‘Did I actually do it?’ ” she recalled in a video shared by the school district.
Credit: North Kansas City Schools
Campbell then rushed Lappat to the school nurse as color returned to the child’s face. "That's the moment that I stopped thinking and just started breathing and panicking,” she explained.
The nurse then called Lappat’s mom, Mallory Fleming, who previously lost another child. "To think about the potential of losing another one was horrifying," the mom said.
Fleming sobbed as she raced to the school and cried in Campbell’s arms upon her arrival, according to the school district.
"She truly has given me my baby back," the mom said. "It makes me love on her a little extra before she gets on the bus. Tomorrow’s not promised."
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Campbell said she used her certified safety training to save the toddler, and promised parents that the teachers at the school are there to "protect your children."
"You're giving us your most prized possession, and when we say we're going to take care of them, we mean it,” the teacher concluded.
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