17-year-old cheerleader and student Tyra Winters is getting some praise of her own after saving a choking toddler during her school’s homecoming parade. 

The Rockwall High School senior was on a float with her fellow cheerleaders and football team, when she noticed people were talking about a child in the crowd who was choking. 

Immediately laying eyes on the toddler, Winters hopped off the float and ran over to him to perform the Heimlich maneuver. 

“At this point, he’s kind of turning purple,” she said. “I picked him up and then I tilted him downwards and gave him two or three back thrusts.”

The child’s mother, Nicole Hornback, said she was unsuccessful in her attempts to help her 2-year-old son. 

“I was sitting right next to him. I just happened to look over. There was no noise, no coughing, no breathing. I just literally was holding him out and just running through the crowd trying to hand him off to anyone,” she said. 

Clarke’s mother said Winters was “very brave” for jumping into action to save her son’s life. Even though the toddler did not remember Winters when they reunited after the incident, his mother expressed sincere thanks for her life-saving act. 

“I commend her for being a teenager and being trained. She saved my baby,” Hornback said. 

The school district and local community members are also rallying behind Winters for her empathy and courage. 

“I know they’re calling me the town hero. It’s super exciting to own that title, but most importantly, I’m just glad the boy is OK,” Winters said.

The heroic cheerleader said her mother, who operates a group home for foster children, taught her how to properly perform the life-saving maneuver. 

What are Winters’ hopes for the future? She said she plans on one day becoming a pediatric surgeon. 

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