Warren teen acts quickly to rescue her mom

WARREN — Anna Cristo and her mother, Michelle, say they often reflect on May 17, 2015, the day Anna, then 15, saved her mother’s life.

They were eating dinner at Sunrise Inn in Warren when Anna noticed her mother’s eyes were wide and she was not responsive.

Realizing what was happening, Anna, using knowledge she had learned eight years earlier during a Girl Scouts meeting, performed the Heimlich maneuver on her mother, dislodging the piece of lettuce on which she was choking.

“I just could not breathe. I was very scared. Our waitress called the manager, but Anna did it and it was done,” Michelle said.

“I am very grateful for her calmness and quick thinking. If she would have gotten upset, she might not have been so efficient. She just got up and did it. She literally saved my life,” Michelle said.

For her decisive, quick action, Anna, now 16, recently received the Medal of Honor Lifesaving Award, a national Girl Scouts award presented to a Scout who saves a life, or attempts to save a life, without risk to her own life.

Anna, of Warren, received the award at the Heimlich Heroes event April 16 at Vienna United Methodist Church.

For the complete story, read Friday's Vindicator and Vindy.com