Video footage has captured the heroic moment a brave third grader saved his classmate from choking on a grape. Eight-year-old Thomas Conley was sitting next to Isaiah Rodriguez in Porter Elementary School's cafeteria in Mesa, Arizona, when he noticed something was terribly wrong.
![[Without hesitation - and before any adults could even notice the emergency - Thomas leaped into action, performing the life-saving Heimlich maneuver that saved his classmate from choking on a grape]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/21/93323935-14210947-image-a-21_1734642393441.jpg)
'I heard him crying, so just like, what's wrong? And for a second I didn't know what what he was doing,' Conley told 12News. 'But finally I realized that he was choking, so I just decided to do the Heimlich.'. Without hesitation - and before any adults could even notice the emergency - Thomas leaped into action, performing the life-saving Heimlich maneuver that saved his classmate from choking on a grape.
![[The brave third grader is now being hailed as a hero. Local firemen came to graduate Conley at a ceremony at the school on Tuesday]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/21/93323949-14210947-The_brave_third_grader_is_now_being_hailed_as_a_hero_Local_firem-a-3_1734642985129.jpg)
'It's because that I don't want Isaiah to die,' Conley explained. Porter Elementary School Principal Kathy Ray only heard about the incident after school when Isaiah's mom asked to see the video footage. Thomas Conley was sitting next to Isaiah Rodriguez in Porter Elementary School's cafeteria in Mesa, Arizona , when he noticed something was terribly wrong.
![[Thomas simply told the crowd, 'You shouldn't be scared to help somebody']](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/19/21/93323937-14210947-image-a-24_1734642486960.jpg)
Without hesitation - and before any adults could even notice the emergency - Thomas leaped into action, performing the life-saving Heimlich maneuver that saved his classmate from choking on a grape. Ray was shocked by what she saw - and especially emotional as it comes seven years after a student died of choking in the same cafeteria.
