Hastings school student saves teacher's life
The son of a Hastings District Councillor rushed to his teacher's aid when she was choking on her food and beyond the point of making noise.
Jesiah Oli-Alainu'uese, the son of Peleti Oli - a Flaxmere-ward councillor - was moments away from joining his peers outside for lunch on Thursday last week when he saw Raureka School teacher Leah Smythe struggling and motioning for help.
“I was gonna go eat my lunch and then my teacher was coughing and then she stopped, and I knew that she wasn’t breathing so I smacked her on the back," the 10-year-old said.
While he was “scared”, he “tried to keep calm” because he knew he needed to help his teacher. “If I was choking I would have been scared," he said.
All he was thinking was: “oh no if I don’t do anything she’s going to die”.
He said he knew what to do because he remembered seeing someone help a student who was choking by hitting their back.
Ms Smythe says she was eating her lunch when she started to choke. With no one around, she went inside where Jesiah and two other children were already.
"I couldn't speak. I couldn't breathe." All that was going through her mind at that moment was that "somebody needs to whack me on the back".
"I was at the sink in the classroom because I was thinking that I need to try and get it out.
"He just knew straight away and from what I can remember he just said she’s choking and he came behind me and whacked my back I dunno three or four times and dislodged it."
Afterwards, she says he stayed with her and wouldn't leave her side.
"I brought him over to the office and let them know what had happened and then we had assembly but he was just right by me the whole time. And I left assembly because I got all emotional."
Less than 24-hours after the ordeal, Ms Smythe admitted that while she was “downplaying” the incident, the gravity of what had happened had started to sink in.
Nothing like this has ever happened to her before. "It was very terrifying really and he was so calm and really amazing, really humble."
If it had not been for Jesiah, she says it could have been a very different story.
Now she refers to him as her “hero”.
"He's pretty amazing. Such a loving boy and real empathetic."
His mum, Jonique Oli-Alainu'uese says they are so "proud" of their son.
When the school called her to tell her what had happened, she immediately thought her son had hurt himself but was surprised to hear that he had saved his teacher's life.
"The first thing I did was call Peleti and call my mum and grandparents just to tell them what had happened and both of us were crying; me and Peleti because we were so in shock. Even we weren’t comprehending what had happened but we were crying because we were just so proud of him."
As no one has choked in their family, she doesn't know how "he knew that that's what he was meant to do".
"He’s very calm and caring, that is his nature but I mean for a 10-year-old to go into a potential life and death situation like that, he didn’t panic once. I would have panicked as an adult."
Jesiah was acknowledged on Thursday and a special assembly was held for him the following day where a St John Ambulance paramedic presented him with a gift pack for his bravery. His peers performed a rousing haka which brought the young student to tears.
"I don’t think he quite understands what he’s done. Even though we’re all saying we’re proud of him and how amazing he is, I don’t think he quite comprehends how amazing he is," Jonique said.
Principal Greg Riceman said they are “super proud” of Jesiah for what he did.
“He stepped up to the plate, went out of his way and helped out and did a fantastic job. It’s just really lovely,” he said.
He says they hope all their students embody the school’s core values; respect, relationships, resilience, and responsibility.
“We do hope that they help one another, be responsible, be respectful and have positive relationships, so it is really great that he ended up and he was there to help where he could.”
