TULALIP — Local heroes and Red Cross volunteers were to be honored Thursday for acts of courage, selflessness and service to community. The 2016 Red Cross Centennial Heroes Breakfast, at the Tulalip Resort Casino, is a fundraising event to help support the American Red Cross serving Snohomish County.
See the stories about all 10 awards
First Aid Rescue: Wayne Thomasson
When a student tried to eat a Warheads hard candy in class, an ordinary Monday turned into time for quick action. Eisenhower Middle School teacher Wayne Thomasson didn’t hesitate when he saw that seventh-grader Gavin Dreben couldn’t breathe.
Gavin was in Thomasson’s English class in March when the sour candy became stuck in his throat. He told The Herald in April that he left class for a sip of water, but that didn’t dislodge the lump. Back in class, Gavin rushed toward his teacher, grabbing his throat. “His face was completely red, and stomach bile was coming up,” Thomasson said. “He needed some help.”
As the Everett school’s football and wrestling coach, Thomasson has had Red Cross first-aid training. That training “kicked right in,” he said. He performed about five abdominal thrusts. The teacher stood behind Gavin, with a fist against the boy’s abdomen, and grabbed that fist with the other hand. The moves, known as the Heimlich maneuver, dislodged the candy enough that Gavin could breathe.
“Gavin could have died with that Warhead stuck in his throat. So we’re very thankful,” said Debbie Stratton, Gavin’s grandmother. “He’s a good person for doing that, rather than freaking out,” Gavin said of Thomasson.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
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