East Orange 8th Grader Saves Choking Teacher

EAST ORANGE, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- Usually it's the teachers who are watching out for the well-being of their students, but in the case of New Jersey eighth-grader Melvin Covin, it's the other way around.

Teachers and students at St. Joseph's School in East Orange told CBS 2's Ann Mercogliano the heartwarming story.

"It makes me teary to even think of it..it was so scary. I've never felt this scared in my life," said Yvonne Rowley, a teacher at the school.

Rowley was talking about an incident that occurred a few weeks ago on her birthday. She was alone in the cafeteria when she started choking.  Covin walked in and Rowley reached out to him.

"I thought she was giving me a hug, but I realized she was [gasping]. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't talk," Covin said.

Melvin thought fast, he grabbed his teacher and screamed for help. Two custodians came to her aid and held her arms in the air while they patted her back. Soon Rowley was able to breathe again.

"At first I couldn't believe it. I realized that I had to be brave,"  he said.

Rowley was grateful.

"He could have run away, but he stayed and helped me and that's why I'm alive today," she said.

Now Rowley calls Covin her guardian angel, but this isn't the first time that he's acted like one. When Covin's mother had cancer, he helped out at home without being asked to.

Covin's basketball coach says that he is shy.

"He just nonchalantly told me he saved his teacher's life, and that was it he didn't make a big deal. I told him he did something great," he said.

Covin's list of accomplishments is lengthy; athelete, honor student, and hero. However, he remains modest.

"I never think I could make it this far, so that's why I'm happy about it," he said.

Before this happened, Mrs. Rowley says she put up a sign outside her classroom, reading "inspire others." She said that is precisely what Melvin is doing everyday.

Since the choking incident Rowley says that Covin has checked on her regularly to make sure that she is doing okay.

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