Letting the kids watch TV is not all bad. Sometimes they even learn something really useful. Like how to save a life!

A 13-year-old autistic boy says he performed the Heimlich manoeuvre on a classmate at his New York City school after learning the technique from “SpongeBob SquarePants.”

Brandon Williams was eating lunch when he noticed his classmate, Jessica Pellegrino, was choking on a piece of apple.

He wrapped his arms around her mid-section and gave a sharp thrust to her diaphragm, and she spit out the piece of apple.

Brandon was asked how he learned the Heimlich a few days later. He said, “Learned it on SpongeBob.”

“I went like this,” said Brandon, demonstrating the motion on his father.
“Where did you learn that?” asked his dad.

“Learned it on SpongeBob,” Brandon answered.

“He picks up on things that most of us would miss, and files it all away in his head, and he can recall it all in an instant,” his dad explained. “That’s how he knew instantly what to do. And we’re glad he did. We’re proud of him.”
Brandon’s and Jessica’s seventh-grade class had a party to celebrate Brandon’s heroism. Some adults at the school said Brandon deserves a medal but he said he doesn’t need one.

Maybe I need to take a bit more notice of SpongeBob next time it’s on. The show usually just annoys me.

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