TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Tampa middle school’s head custodian is being hailed a hero after his quick thinking saved a student from choking during lunch last week.
Mohammed Hammad –– affectionately known as “Mr. Moe” –– has been working at Mulrennan Middle School for 10 years and loves every minute of it, especially the rapport he has with the students during their lunch break.
On Feb. 2, while Mr. Moe was in the cafeteria, Xzavier Wilson, a seventh-grader at the school, slammed his phone down and ran toward a trash can. Since it wasn’t normal behavior for someone to slam their phone so hard, the school said Mr. Moe knew something was wrong and followed the boy.
“I asked Xzavier if he could speak, and he shook his head no,” Mr. Moe said. “He looked extremely panicked.”
That’s when Mr. Moe immediately performed the Heimlich maneuver on Wilson, and after three attempts, the boy was able to dislodge a Taki that was stuck.
“It was scary,” Wilson said. “Mr. Moe is my hero. He saved my life.”
However, this isn’t the first time Mr. Moe has saved a life. According to the school, he was at the right place at the right time – again – about three to four months ago when another student had choked on a chip.
While Mr. Moe is considered a hero to many, the school said he doesn’t think of himself as one. He was just happy to have been there.
“Xzavier’s parents and the rest of the student body are all happy he was there, too,” the school said in a press release.