Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Flint saves the day in the Q

Most of the time, when I am posting about alumni here on the blog it has to do with their excellent post-collegiate racing exploits. Without a doubt, at some point in the coming months/years, I fully expect to be posting about Marist Running Alum Matt Flint, who is one of the greatest XC/distance men to ever walk through the front doors of the McCann Center. But today, thanks to an assist from Marist Running Alum Lisa D'Aniello who sent me this info via e-mail, we share with you this information about a life-saving good deed performed by Mr. Flint. Here is the news that was posted on the Queensbury Union Free School District Web site, under the headline "QHS alumnus saves the day:

On Wednesday, February 12, Matthew Flint was in the middle school cafeteria – a place where he had eaten many lunches as a student. Only this time, he was a substitute teacher “on duty” as a cafeteria monitor. Normally a fairly routine duty, Wednesday became anything but routine for Flint.  

During seventh-grade lunch, Flint was approached by a student who could not breathe and was choking. Flint recognized the problem and immediately began to administer the Heimlich maneuver. As district officials later learned, the seventh-grader had a grape lodged in his esophagus. 

While the Heimlich maneuver did not completely dislodge the grape, it did shift it enough for the boy to take partial, struggling breaths. The student was immediately taken to school nurse Colleen Geczy, who administered emergency procedures and called 911. The student was transported to Glens Falls Hospital emergency room where the grape was removed from his esophagus. 

Flint graduated from Queensbury High School in 2008. He was a standout cross country runner and a member of the 2005, 2006 and 2007 state championship teams. He continued his running career at Division I Marist College, competing in cross country and indoor/outdoor track. Flint graduated from Marist in 2012 with a teaching degree in Biology. 

Nicely done, Flint!

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