THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 5, 1995 TAG: 9505040130
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH THIEL, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The teacher thought it was horse play when a fourth-grader doubled over and started clutching his throat during a one-mile run in gym class at Seatack Elementary School last week.
Rafiel S. Bynum, 11, a fellow fourth-grader, recognized it as something else.
Rafiel knew his classmate was choking. On a piece of hard candy. Probably watermelon flavored.
``He was turning pale and blue'' and making choking noises, Rafiel said.
Rafiel wasted no time. He grabbed the distressed boy from behind and gave him the lifesaving bear hug known as the Heimlich maneuver, designed to dislodge obstructions that block breathing.
When that didn't work, Rafiel gave him a few sharp raps on the back. Finally, the boy coughed up the hard candy.
With that, Rafiel gained a hero's status at Seatack. The other boy's family has asked that his name be withheld.
``I feel excited, and I thank the Lord for saving his life,'' Rafiel said.
He learned his lifesaving techniques on ``Rescue 911,'' a television show on which rescues are re-enacted.
``I'm very, very proud of him,'' said his mother, Brenda L. Bynum, 31. ``I didn't even know Rafiel knew how to do that. He's never done it before.
``Just watching something on TV, he's never practiced it.''
Seatack Principal Katherine Parker said, ``It feels great to have a hero in the school.''
Meanwhile, Parker said, hard candy continues to be against the rules in school. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by DAVID B. HOLLINGSWORTH
``I feel excited, and I thank the Lord for saving his life,'' said
Rafiel S. Bynum, 11, who used lifesaving techniques he said he
learned by watching ``Rescue 911'' on television to dislodge hard
candy from the throat of a classmate at Seatack Elementary School.
KEYWORDS: HERO by CNB