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Dec 12, 2017

Everyday Hero: Emilee Wertz

Colleen Wertz heard about Heimlich Heroes in a Girl Scout Facebook group and decided to prepare her Brownie troop for a choking emergency.

She trained her troop of 14 second and third grade girls how to correctly perform the Heimlich Maneuver®.

“I thought this training was going to be hard with this grade level, but my girls proved me wrong,” said Colleen. “It went great!”

Colleen’s eighteen-year-old daughter, Emilee Wertz, learned the maneuver while helping her prepare for the training with her Brownie troop.

Little did Colleen know, Emilee would put her new skill to use shortly after going through the training program. That’s right, Emilee saved a life!

“I was working as a waitress when I saw a customer choking,” said Emilee. “I was scared at first, but I was the closest person to her. I pulled her to the edge of the booth, held her close to my body, and performed the Heimlich Maneuver.”

Colleen couldn’t believe her daughter was a Heimlich Hero!

At first I was like, ‘are you kidding me?” said Colleen. “But as she told me what happened I had a big smile on my face, but I also had tears because my daughter just saved a life.”

Emilee thanks the Heimlich Heroes program for giving her the confidence and preparation to act in a real-life choking emergency.

“I thought the Heimlich Heroes training program was great,” said Emilee. “It gave me gave me the feeling of what it would feel like to do it on a real person.”

Colleen and Emilee know first hand how important this life-saving skill is!

“This is an awesome training program for all ages? with this program children and adults are learning how to save a life,” said Colleen.

Emilee added, “It’s important to learn [the maneuver] because you never know when someone might need your help.”

Way to go, Emilee! You are a Heimlich Hero!