Leyden student’s quick actions aid choking peer

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Simon Perez (left) and Wojciech Panek stand in front of West Leyden High School in Northlake where Panek rescued Perez while he was choking on an orange. (Mark Lawton/Sun-Times Media)

Updated: March 24, 2012 8:40AM

Room 247 at West Leyden High School was quiet.

Students in the third-period geometry class were hunched over worksheets. Teacher Kari Stutzman was in front of the classroom working on her Smart Board when she heard of couple of students giggle.

“Then I heard a girl say, ‘I think he’s choking,’” Stutzman said. “When I turned around, I couldn’t see the kid’s face.”

The kid was 16-year-old Simon Perez, who was sitting in the back of the classroom.

“This girl right next to me whips out an orange and offered me some,” Perez said. “She gave me a big piece. Something happened and it got stuck.”

Wojciech Panek, also 16, was sitting at the opposite corner of the class the morning of Feb. 15. Panek had attended Wellness and Safety class with Perez in the fall where both students were taught the Heimlich maneuver.

“The girl next to him screamed he was choking,” Panek said. “No one believed him at first because he usually messes around.”

Stutzman asked Perez if he was choking. Perez looked up.

“I was doing that sign you do when you’re choking,” Perez said. “You’re supposed to put both hands on your neck.”

Things started to move quickly. Stutzman ran to push an emergency button at the front of the room. Meanwhile, Panek saw that Perez actually was choking.

“His entire face turned red and almost blue,” Panek said. “He was trying to talk, but he couldn’t.”

Panek jumped up and ran across the room. He got Perez to stand up, turned him around and put his arms around Perez, with his fists clasped together just under Perez’ rib cage. Then Panek yanked back and slightly up.

“He did it two times, just to be sure,” Perez said. “(The orange) came flying out. It hit the girl in the face, the one who gave me the orange.”

Perez began to breathe again.

“I was like ‘Do you need another (yank)?’” Panek said. “He was ‘yeah, yeah, yeah, I’m fine.’ Then I just walked back to my desk. When I sat down, five security guards walked through the door.”

The security guards took Perez down to the office of Rhonda Kazmierczak, the school nurse. In her four years working at West Leyden, she’s never heard of anyone performing the Heimlich maneuver at the school. She described herself as impressed by Panek’s actions.

“It takes a lot of courage for someone who is not medically trained to react to that situation so quickly,” Kazmierczak said.