A nursing student at Prince Edward County High School (PECHS) saved the life of an elementary school student who was choking on a school bus Tuesday, representatives of the school and the student reported.

Ar’Queonna Hurt is a senior nursing student at PECHS. Hurt said she is taking the state board of nursing test in April and will graduate from Prince Edward with a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) degree.

Hurt said she doesn’t often ride the bus home from school but did so with her sister Tuesday afternoon when an elementary school student first started choking.

“I had my headphones in, I was listening to music, and my sister tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Quee, they need your help,’” Hurt said.

Hurt leapt up and ran to the student, who was turning blue.

“I put my arms around his stomach, and I start pounding,” Hurt said. “Next thing I know, it flew out. He threw up.”

She said he had choked on a piece of candy wrapped in plastic.

“After that, I gave him some water and had sat him down,” Hurt said, “and told him to take a deep breath.”

Her initial emotion was shock at the situation. She said she received first aid training in ninth grade. She didn’t imagine she would use those skills to save a child’s life this week.

“I was shocked,” Hurt said about the incident.

She encouraged community members to take advantage of first aid courses and to learn how to respond in situations where people are choking or are in other forms of danger.

“I would really want them to look into it, because this is serious,” Hurt said.

Gwendolyn McQuaige-Hicks, principal of PECHS, said when she heard about the incident and Hurt’s lifesaving action, she gave an announcement Wednesday morning on the school’s public address system, arranged for a photo to be taken with Hurt and members of Prince Edward County Public Schools (PECPS) administration and called Hurt’s mother to thank her.

“I call her my Shero,” McQuaige-Hicks said about Hurt, using the term for a female hero, “because the average student wouldn’t have been able to react so quickly and with such accuracy. But due to the training that she has received here, her instincts immediately kicked in, and she knew exactly what to do, instinctively.”

McQuaige-Hicks noted that Hurt’s courage and training proved the perfect combination in that instance of crisis.

“I want to give her kudos in terms of her bravery,” McQuaige-Hicks said. “Seeing someone, a young person at that, in distress and being able to perform the job that she did from her classes at the (Prince Edward County Career and Technical Education Center) and put everything into practice, the application aspect of it was commendable, highly commendable.”

Division Superintendent Dr. Barbara Johnson commended Hurt and said her actions set an example for the school division and community.

“Miss Hurt’s lifesaving efforts and quick actions were instrumental in yesterday’s event,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Miss Hurt is an excellent example of a confident leader and a productive citizen. I am both thrilled and proud of the way she handled yesterday’s incident.”