DATE: Friday, July 4, 1997                  TAG: 9707030613

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY MATTHEW BOWERS, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                    LENGTH:   52 lines

MAKING A DIFFERENCE: TEEN PROGRAM TURNED HIS LIFE AROUND - AND SAVED IT

Donald Guseman Jr. quickly was turning blue.

A piece of walnut was lodged in his throat, and he couldn't breathe.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go.

Donald, 17, had dropped out of Ocean Lakes High School. Earlier this year, he entered Commonwealth ChalleNGe, a strict military-style program for dropouts at the Virginia National Guard's Camp Pendleton.

Several times he wanted to quit but was talked out of it by staff members. He stuck it out. His grateful mother said the program turned his life around for the better.

Last month, Donald took the last of his exams for his General Educational Development diploma and felt he had done well. Graduation was a couple of weeks away, and then he hoped to start a career in the military or in masonry.

But that night, eating a slice of carrot cake at dinner, he suddenly couldn't draw air or speak. His future shrunk to what it would take to catch another breath.

Eating nearby were two instructors: Lt. Cmdr. Eric Arumae, a former Navy SEAL, and Sgt. Donald Johnson, a former Marine. Both knew first aid, including the Heimlich maneuver, used to dislodge obstructions in choking victims.

Arumae first noticed Donald slumped over in his chair. He and Johnson found the teen getting bluer by the second, and didn't hesitate.

They pulled Donald to his feet. Arumae and another cadet held Donald up as Johnson reached around the choking teen and squeezed. Hard.

Nothing. Donald is big - 6 feet 2 inches, and 215 or more pounds - and Johnson is 6 inches shorter and at least 30 pounds lighter. Johnson squeezed again, harder.

This time it worked. The chunk of walnut popped free. Shaken, bruised and complaining of chest pains, Donald was checked at a hospital and sent to bed for a couple of days.

``I guess I squeezed too hard,'' Johnson said. ``I mean, he was a big kid.''

The program's director, Col. Maynard K. Bean, said it was the first such incident at the 3-year-old program. But he was checking into setting up Heimlich maneuver training for his whole staff.

Johnson said he and Arumae just reacted. No big deal. Even though he had never before performed the lifesaving maneuver.

``I've got seven children of my own,'' said Johnson, who also has been a youth counselor for 8 1/2 years in various programs. ``It's almost a spontaneous gesture.

``Nobody panicked. We did it. It was over with.''

Donald's mother, Doreena Guseman, already had become a fan of the program, overcoming her initial hesitation at its harshness. She's a bigger fan, now.

``I don't know how to thank these guys - they are so good,'' she said. ``They saved my son's life. . . . Their job does not include this.''

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