It was another American history class period for 13-year-old Sierra Vista Junior High School eighth graders Balam Cardenas, Andrew Ontiveros and Liam Grecia, when Ontiveros was about to share a joke with their teacher, Kellie Kontis.
“I remember class ending, and I wanted to tell a joke to Ms. Kontis, and I went up to her. It was like, ‘What do you call two bros that love math?’ and she put a finger up, so I thought she needed to use the restroom. Then she started choking, and I got scared,” Ontiveros said. “We just didn’t know what to do. Then she said ‘Heimlich,’ and Balam immediately sprung into action and saved Ms. Kontis’ life.”
Cardenas, who had guessed how to do the Heimlich maneuver from movies and shows, proved that his knowledge paid off.
“I probably wouldn’t have noticed if she didn’t say ‘Heimlich.’ She whispered it. I just saw her and thought, ‘It doesn’t hurt to try.’ So, I just went for it. I wasn’t really sure what to do afterwards. I asked her if she wanted water. I wasn’t really worried about being late to my next class,” Cardenas said.
The culprit in Kontis’ choking? Dried, spicy edamame.
“I was doing the international choking symbol, and I was thinking, ‘I’m going to die.’ My fifth period is going to come in and find me on the floor of my class. And then I thought, ‘I want to live until 100’ and I’m only 52. It was so upsetting. I just started crying [after] because I realized that I could’ve died. All three of them were instrumental in assessing the situation,” Kontis said.
Grecia, who is familiar with family members having asthma, focused on looking for an inhaler for Kontis.
“While I was packing up my stuff, I started to see Ms. Kontis wheezing. It sounded exactly how my mom would wheeze when she needed her inhaler. So my first thought was to go to her desk and find an inhaler,” Grecia said. “I really wish I could do more to help out, but I think we all did the best that we could. It’s not traumatic, but it’s still something you’ll remember. It had never happened to me before. But, I feel good about offering that support.”
Kontis reassured Grecia, noting the efforts of the three students who helped save her life. Dialing 911 wasn’t a thought for Kontis, especially since she couldn’t speak at the moment.
“I think it was helpful that all three of you were in there together, because you all looked at each other. Maybe if it was just one of you, you would’ve been like, ‘I don’t know what to do.’ It might’ve been too late,” Kontis said. “I think having the camaraderie really helped. I tread carefully when I eat now. There’s more of an appreciation now for everything. I feel like I always have an optimistic view, but it was very traumatic for me. I did think I was going to die, because a lot of people die from choking.”
Principal Marcus Garrett commended the students for their quick-thinking efforts, as well as what this incident could mean for the future of safety protocols at the school.
“When you come across heroic acts in the world, it is very, very common for the people who perform those acts to not feel like they did something very special. They feel like they were just doing what they should have done. Those are the things that people who are heroes typically end up saying,” Garrett said. “I was impressed with you three being calm, cool and collected enough to understand that you can do something to help … I think this a great opportunity for us to recognize that lots of things can happen in a classroom that we might not necessarily anticipate.”
