‘I did what I needed to do’: High school senior credited with saving child’s life at softball team’s event

HOLLAND, Mich. (Gray News) – A high school senior in Michigan is credited with saving a young child’s life, thanks to her CPR training and quick thinking.

Giselle Torres, a senior at Holland High School, knew exactly what to do when she heard cries for help at the school softball team’s Custom Car & Bike Show over the weekend.

A young boy was choking and unable to breathe.

Torres is currently enrolled in an EMS class, and she is CPR certified. She jumped into action along with her teammate Jaelynn Ybarra-Brandon, who is also CPR certified.

“She (the mother) handed me the boy and I started doing what we learned, which is five firm pats on the back and then you flip the child over; five compressions to the chest. And you do that until you know the object is dislodged,” Torres said in a news release.

Once the object was out, Torres and Ybarra-Brandon continued to help the boy breathe until first responders arrived.

“I did what I could until the paramedics and professionals got here and that could have been something that saved his life,” Torres said. “Without learning that in school, we don’t know what would have happened to that little boy.”

The little boy was fine and was back to playing at the car show later that afternoon.

Torres said when she learned CPR, she always thought if she had to use it in real life, she would be worried or anxious in the moment. But her training took over and she remained calm.

“But I did what I needed to. I went in calm while everything else around me was chaotic, and did what I needed to do,” she said.

Torres said she wants to be a police officer and hopes to work as a cadet this summer.

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