Southwest
Boy, 8, saves choking friend with Heimlich maneuver: See the video
An 8-year-old boy is being hailed as a hero after saving the life of his choking friend in the elementary school cafeteria.
Thomas Conley, a second-grade student at Porter Elementary School in Mesa, Arizona, noticed that his friend was choking on a grape and sprang into action, according to local reports.
Conley immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver — also known as abdominal thrusts — on Isaiah Rodriguez, which dislodged the grape.
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Mesa Public Schools commended Conley on social media after the heroic moment, which occurred on Nov. 14.
“Thanks to Thomas’ quick thinking, Isaiah was able to breathe normally again. Thank you, Thomas, for your courage and for being a true hero!”
Candice Conley, Thomas’ mother, spoke with Fox News Digital about his son’s life-saving actions.
“We are so proud of him,” she said. “Thomas is very quick-thinking and active — and he’s just a really good friend.”
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The family often discusses food safety and kitchen safety at home, Conley said, as she and her husband have both worked in the food industry, and she now works in the Department of Public Health for Maricopa County.
“I think a lot of people, maybe even some adults, might not realize that somebody’s choking,” she said. “Thomas just knew that he had to get air to go up to dislodge the grape.”
The parents of Rodriguez, the boy Thomas Conley saved, were “so thankful,” Conley told Fox News Digital.
“The first time I saw his mom, I just hugged her,” she said. “We are just so thankful, most of all, that Isaiah is OK.”
“Thomas is very quick-thinking and active — and he’s just a really good friend.”
“I’m super grateful, and I wanted him to know how proud I was of him and how thankful I was,” said Isaiah’s mom, Maria Anderson, in a video posted by Mesa Fire and Medical Department. “He and my son have been friends for a long time.”
Thomas has been “very nonchalant” about what happened, Conley said.
“He was just like, ‘My friend needed help, and so I helped him,’” she said.
“It’s super cool that Thomas had a part in that and that we can raise awareness about choking, because it could have gone really awful that day.”
Speaking to Fox News Digital, Thomas said, “I’ve probably never had this much attention in my life.”
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Last week, Porter Elementary held an assembly with first responders from the Mesa Fire and Medical Department, who recognized Thomas’ brave act and presented him with a certificate in front of his peers.
The Mesa Fire and Medical Department also recognized Thomas on its Facebook page.
“Thomas turned a regular lunchtime into an extraordinary act of bravery, making a huge difference,” they wrote. “Seeing his friend in distress, Thomas wasted no time and jumped into action, saving Isaiah’s life from a choking incident. Join us in applauding this young hero. Thomas, you inspire us to act courageously and promptly.”
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Introduced by Dr. Henry Heimlich in 1975, the Heimlich maneuver is recommended by the American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care as the first line of treatment for airway obstruction.
The maneuver has a success rate of more than 86% in choking cases, research has shown.
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Southwest
Just in time for Christmas, husband receives miraculous 'Godwink': 'Completely healed'
David Espinoza and his wife Toni were living on the southern border of Texas, in the city of McAllen, five hours south of Houston.
As Christmas approached, they received the worst news.
Doctors in Houston told David Espinoza that his heart was operating at only 10% capacity.
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If he didn’t get a heart transplant quickly, he would not live to see his family for another Christmas.
Worse, he was told that finding a perfect donor could take nine months or more.
Toni Espinoza, known to be a prayer warrior, organized everyone she knew — and hundreds she didn’t — to pray for her husband to find a heart donor.
But within days, she felt conflicted.
She decided to change her strategy.
It seemed as if they were praying for someone to die in order for her husband to live.
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She decided to change her strategy.
She began praying fervently for God to completely and miraculously heal her husband.
And just for added comfort, she asked God to confirm her answered prayer by making it snow in McAllen, Texas, on Christmas Day.
She shared her private decision to pray for these miracles with a trusted childhood friend named Crawford.
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“Toni, have you ever seen snow?” her friend asked her.
She shook her head.
“It hasn’t snowed here in 109 years! And never on Christmas.”
She’d lived in McAllen, Texas, all her life.
The average winter temperature on the border was about 75 degrees.
Her friend continued, “The reason you’ve never seen snow is because it hasn’t snowed here in 109 years! And never on Christmas.”
Toni Espinoza shrugged, smiled and gave her friend a look of resolve.
“I know God is going to answer my prayers.”
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It was nearly midnight on Christmas Eve when one of the Espinoza daughters, home for the holidays, looked into the backyard — and shrieked.
“Mom, it’s snowing!”
Coatless, Toni Espinoza dashed into the backyard — delighted to see snow covering her fully flowered rose bushes.
Gazing into the night sky, as white snowflakes speckled her dark hair, she whispered, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The next morning, children across McAllen bundled up, ran outside, rolled in the snow, fanned angels, and made snowmen for the first time in their lives.
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A McAllen newspaper headline announced the “First White Christmas Ever!”
Yet the best Christmas present of all came three weeks later.
David Espinoza’s Houston doctor looked at the medical charts.
He shook his head and said, “David, I don’t understand how this happened… but you’re going to live for a long, long time.”
He added, “Your heart is completely healed.”
In tears, the couple embraced — and praised God for the best Christmas gift ever.
The couple’s story appears in the bestselling book, “Godwink Christmas Stories” by SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt, from which this article is excerpted. Copyright © SQuire Rushnell and Louise DuArt. For more info, see www.godwinks.com.
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Los Angeles, Ca
Outage leaves 40K Southern California Edison customers in dark on Christmas Eve
LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – Some 40,000 Southern California Edison customers were without power on Christmas Eve after a transformer failed in the Downey-Norwalk area earlier in the afternoon.
According to SCE’s outage map, the problems began around 1:30 p.m., with Kathleen Dunleavy, a spokesperson for Southern California Edison, telling KTLA that the utility company did not have a timeframe for when power would be restored.
“Our crews are on scene working to restore power as quickly and as safely as possible. We recognize that this is a tough time to be without power, right before a holiday,” Dunleavy said. “We recognize that this is an incredibly important situation, and we want to get the power back up for our customers.”
Metro’s C (Green) Line trains were temporarily halted between the Norwalk and Willowbrook/Rose Park stops as a result of the outage, though normal C Line train service resumed right around 5 p.m., Metro officials said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
Officials in the City of Downey deployed police to help manage traffic control at intersections where traffic lights were out.
“We encourage residents to exercise caution when driving through affected areas,” officials said in a statement.
There were also reports of last-minute Christmas shoppers perusing the darkened aisles of local retailers also affected by the outage.
Los Angeles, Ca
Police seeking help identifying suspect in deadly Santa Monica hit-and-run
The Santa Monica Police Department is seeking help in identifying a driver that allegedly hit and killed a person on Sunday.
The fatal crash took place at about 6:40 p.m. on Sunday on the intersection of Chelsea Avenue and Wilshire Boulevard. According to authorities, the victim, who is yet to be identified publicly, was crossing Wilshire southbound when they were struck by a white Toyota Rav4 heading eastbound on Wilshire.
The Toyota’s driver then fled the scene at a high rate of speed.
The pedestrian, a Vietnam War veteran and Santa Monica resident, was pronounced dead at the scene.
On Tuesday, police released graphic video footage of the collision. In that video, the Toyota can be seen speeding off after the crash sent the elderly victim flying.
Additional photos released showed a clear image of the suspect’s Toyota and security footage of the alleged driver.
The photo showed what appeared to be a bearded man wearing glasses, a black hoodie and gray sweatpants.
No additional details were immediately made available. Anyone who may have information related to this incident is encouraged to contact Investigator Raleigh at Evan.Raleigh@santamonica.gov, Investigator Lewis at Lantz.Lewis@santamonica.gov or the Watch Commander 24 hours a day at 310-458-8427.
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