'She Saved My Life': Teacher Praised For Life-Saving Action At School

January 26, 2026

A quick-thinking middle school teacher in Georgia is being celebrated after saving a student’s life when he began choking at school.

Credit: Cobb County Schools

Valerie Hodge, an English teacher at McClure Middle School in Cobb County, had no idea her day would take such a dramatic turn. Shortly after lunch, she noticed a seventh-grade student, Dalton Tomberlain, clearly in distress.

Dalton had been eating a burger when something went wrong.

“I felt a soreness in my throat, and I couldn’t breathe,” Dalton later shared.

Ms. Hodge saw Dalton clutching his throat and instantly recognized the signs of choking and jumped into action.

“From what I understand, he was turning blue,” Dalton’s mother, Courtney Tomberlain, said.

“I thought I was going to die a little bit ... it was just scary,” Dalton recalled.

Without hesitation, Hodge performed the Heimlich maneuver — a skill she learned years earlier while working at a daycare during college.

“I didn’t really even think, I just reacted,” Hodge said. “I saw a student who was in trouble and just went into action.”

It’s a moment the Tomberlain family says they will never forget.

“I can’t thank her enough,” Courtney said. “She didn’t think twice. A situation like that can turn tragic in a second, and I’m so grateful she was there and my son was able to come home from school that day.”

Although Hodge never expected to use that training in a classroom setting, she says stepping in to help is simply part of who she is as a teacher.

Interestingly, Hodge had never taught Dalton in any of her classes. Still, the two are now forever connected by the split-second decision that made all the difference.

“I’m really thankful,” Dalton said. “She saved my life.”