Video shows NJ teacher save student choking on water bottle cap

NJ teacher saves choking student

Janiece Jenkins, a teacher at East Orange Community Charter School, saved student Robert Stonaker, 9, from choking on a bottle cap while at school.

NEW JERSEY - Janiece Jenkins, a teacher at East Orange Community Charter School, is being hailed a hero after springing into action and saving her student who was choking on a water bottle cap.

"This could have been very tragic, but I'm glad it wasn't," Jenkins told FOX 5 NY morning program, ‘Good Day New York.’

On Wednesday at about 11:15 a.m., Robert Stonaker, 9, was sitting a desk and trying to pour water into his mouth when he started choking.

"I was opening the bottle with my mouth, and then I started with my hand and I couldn't open it, so I did it with my mouth and then the water pushed it into my throat," said Stonaker.

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The third-grade student is seen on video turning the bottle into his mouth as it gets lodged.

"He ran over to the sink to see if he could get it out himself, and then he ran over to me when he saw that he couldn't, and he started pointing to his throat. He's just letting me know he couldn't speak. He was in distress. He needed some help. I just turned him around and performed the Heimlich maneuver and got that cap out of his throat," said Jenkins.

The video appears to show Jenkins calmly helping Stonaker.

"I've been trained in my first aid, CPR, and I just need to act on that. I was prepared to do my job," added Jenkins.

The cap was dislodged and Stonaker was able to swallow again. Lesson learned.

"I learned that I'm not supposed to open the bottle with my mouth anymore," said Stonaker.