Dayvon Johnson was made an honorary police officer in Muskogee, Oklahoma, after he saved a classmate from choking and rescued an elderly woman from a fire on the same day, Dec. 9.
Dayvon, who is in the 6th grade, saw a classmate choking on a bottle cap at school and used the Heimlich maneuver to dislodge the cap. Dayvon learned the Heimlich maneuver on YouTube.
The student tried to open a water bottle with his teeth when the cap fell into his mouth, and he began to choke. The choking student stumbled into the classroom where Dayvon was sitting, and Dayvon jumped up and performed the Heimlich maneuver on his classmate, according to the school Principal Latricia Dawkins.
“Davyon immediately sprinted over and did the Heimlich maneuver,” said Dawkins. “From the account of the witnesses, when he did it the bottle cap popped out.”
This is 11 year old Dayvon Johnson, who on the same day did an abdominal thrust to prevent a fellow pupil choking and then that afternoon he rescued a disabled women from house fire. What an amazing young man pic.twitter.com/UYHLkXqNrI
— Giles Paley-Phillips (@eliistender10) December 20, 2021
Dawkins called Dayvon a “dual hero” for not only saving his classmate but also helping a woman whose home was on fire the same day. The woman was on her porch, and when Dayvon saw her struggling, he helped her off of her porch and into a vehicle.
“It was a disabled lady and she was walking out of her house,” said Davyon. “She was on her porch. But I thought, being a good citizen, I would cross and help her get into her truck and leave.”
Dawkins noted that Dayvon had always said he wanted to be an EMT, just like his uncle Wendell Johnson. His mother, LaToya Johnson, said she was proud of him and wasn’t surprised by her son’s actions.
“I’m just a proud mom,” said Johnson.
After hearing about his incredible day, the Muskogee Police Department, Muskogee Public Schools Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office honored Dayvon as an honorary member of both the sheriff’s office and police departments. Muskogee Mayor Marlon J. Coleman also celebrated Dayvon with his own day in the city and declared Dec. 9 Dayvon Johnson Day.
Dayvon noted that learning the Heimlich maneuver is an important skill to have and said, “Just in case you’re in the situation I was in, you can know what to do.”
