Quick Thinking By Cheer Sponsor Saves Student’s Life

Miya Fipps (l) and Tanya Pesina (r) at a FCHS pep rally on Friday October 21, 2022. The teacher rescued the student who was choking at a school-sponsored event. (FCR Photo/Pamela Ricketts)

ABERNATHY, TX – How quickly can you react to a life-changing situation?

For Floydada Collegiate ISD teacher and Cheer Sponsor Tania Pesina, it was a split-second decision that saved the life of student cheerleader Miya Fipps. “I’ll never forget the look on her face as she was signaling that she needed help.”

“Me and the cheerleaders were laughing and making jokes, and I got annoyed, and I stood up all mad and started choking,” the Floydada Collegiate High School junior explained.

“I panicked. I didn’t know what to do, and I was trying to get the cheerleaders’ attention, but they weren’t looking,” she added. “So I went to Mrs. Pesina.”

The cheer squad had stopped to eat in Abernathy on their way to a varsity district football game in New Deal, and luckily Pesina knew the Heimlich maneuver.

“I most definitely did panic,” the FCISD employee admitted. “I was so afraid I was going to do the Heimlich Maneuver wrong, as I have never done it before.”

For Fipps, she says you can avoid the situation by “making sure you chew your food good,” but also says if it does happen, “don’t panic because panicking only makes it worse.”

While Pesina advises others not to doubt or question themselves. “We tend to freeze during scary situations but reacting is better than not. Overcome the fear from the moment and spring into action”.

If you want to be prepared when and if this happens around you, check out this link to the Heimlich Maneuver from Cleveland Clinic.

You should use the Heimlich maneuver if a person is conscious but choking. You can usually tell if someone is choking if they can’t speak, breathe, or cough. Ask the person, “Are you choking?” They may be able to cough but can’t speak to ask for help. Sometimes, their breathing and speaking become weaker and weaker until only gasping sounds come out. The universal choking symbol — holding your hands up and clutching your throat — is often used.

Don’t attempt the Heimlich maneuver if a person can speak, cough, or breathe. Encourage the person to keep coughing. Sometimes a strong cough can free the foreign object. Only perform the Heimlich maneuver if a person’s life is in danger.