St. Marys, GA. -- Sometimes heroes come in small packages. That's the case in St. Mary's, Georgia. When a little boy on the school bus started choking, another little boy stepped in and performed the Heimlich maneuver.
At St. Mary's Elementary School, there's a pint-sized superhero walking the halls and riding the buses.
Rylan Norrell is nine years old.
Just before Thanksgiving, he was on the school bus when he saw a younger student.
"He had this diabolical smile like he just injected Superman with kryptonite," Rylan said. "And I looked in his mouth and there's a quarter in it."
Being older, Rylan advised the kid take the quarter out of his mouth.
"I bet he was probably thinking, ‘I’m not going to swallow it,' and he went like this." Rylan threw his head back to demonstrate. "And when his head went completely straight, that’s when (the quarter) went down."
The boy started coughing.
"I knew he was choking when his entire face and neck turned red," Rylan remembered.
So 4th-grader Rylan did not hesitate and performed the Heimlich maneuver.
And that saved the boy’s life.
"He did say thank you," Rylan said.
Rylan's mother, Stephanie, said, "It’s very possible no kid would’ve noticed. I’m glad Rylan was there and was paying attention."
Rylan said he knew about the Heimlich maneuver from YouTube videos.