December 12, 2011

Cindy McGlothlin is a teacher's assistant at Greene County Primary School. She spends her days in the classroom teaching students how to write numbers and making sure her teacher, Shaun Gainer, has everything ready for each lesson.

But McGlothlin's duties don't end in the classroom. A couple of weeks ago, in this cafeteria, she added the title of "life-saver" to her list of responsibilities.

“I was manning lunch like I always do and turned around and saw one of the children in our class had turned blue,” she said. “I ran over and I could see he was gagging and (like I said) he had already turned blue. So, I picked him up and began to do the Heimlich."

McGlothlin didn't panic. And thanks to her awareness and knowledge, it took only a few tries for the food to come out.

“When she told me I was shocked by what happened and amazed by what she had done, but it definitely wasn't surprising. This is just the type of person that she is,” Gainer said of his assistant.

While Gainer and McGlothlin's co-workers think of her as a hero, she says saving a life when necessary is all part of the job.

“Because of our job taking care of children I think I did exactly what everybody else would have done. I'd like to think I was just doing my job, just like any of the other teachers or assistants would,” said this week's hero.