By:Anne Marie Allocca
Nine-year-old Camilo Paez, popped a Munchkin in his mouth and started running too. Suddenly, the tiny donut hole lodged in his throat and he fell to the ground, choking. He was able to signal for help and a teammate, Anthony Gioia, 10, ran to his rescue.
"I asked him if he was choking and then he said yes, so I did the 'Heimlich Remover' on him," Gioia said, giving a kid-appropriate name to the rescue maneuver. "I went behind him and then I put my two hands together and pushed into his stomach and the Munchkin flew out of his mouth."
Gioia said he learned the maneuver by watching cartoons.
Paez said he won't be running with food in his mouth any time soon. And he is very grateful to his Gioia. "I felt like I was going to choke and die," Paez said. "Anthony saved my life by doing something to my stomach. Anthony's a great boy and I'm happy that he saved my life."
The boys' coach, Dave Arata, says the whole episode was over before any of the coaches arrived on the scene. "My wife was screaming, the kids ran over and before I even got there Anthony had expelled the donut," Arata said. "There it was full, on the ground, this little round blob. He was out of breath on the floor for a little bit, and then ten minutes later he was back to normal. His mother thought he hurt his leg because he was on the ground. They had no idea he was choking because he couldn't talk."
Gioia was honored with an award at the Valley Stream Soccer awards presentation at Central High School June 29. Other awards were presented to the top three teams.
