Advertisement He did the Heimlich maneuver.
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Sand Lake Elementary School fourth grader Kaiden Condos (right) gave his classmate Nathan Gelder the Heimlich maneuver last week when he was choking on a bratwurst while eating lunch.
PETER THOMSON photo
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“It just came to my head,” 10-year-old Condos said Wednesday. “I knew what the Heimlich was but never thought I’d need to use it.”
Classmate Nathan Gelder, 9, had bitten into a bratwurst — loaded with ketchup — that got lodged in his throat during lunch Friday at Holmen’s Sand Lake Elementary School.
Gelder said he tried to swallow, but the lump of bratwurst suddenly made it difficult to breathe.
“I put my hands up and turned to Kaiden. I thought I was going to die,” Gelder said. “He patted my back and when that didn’t work, did the Heimlich. It came out after one push.”
“It was amazing,” Condos said. “All I could think was, ‘Holy crud, I can’t believe I did it.’”
Condos and Gelder are in Sue Eitland’s class. While they had the same kindergarten teacher, they didn’t become friends until this school year.
Gelder was relieved Condos remembered the emergency training he and other students at the Holmen elementary school received in third grade.
“I was really glad Kaiden was there,” Gelder said.
