WATCH: Burke Co. educator’s quick action saves child from choking

WAYNESBORO, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Burke County Head Start director is being credited with saving a young child who began choking in a hallway this week.Surveillance video from the center shows a boy in the hallway in obvious distress as an adult nearby tries to help. From about 20 feet away, Head Start Director Yolanda Willis notices what’s happening, rushes over and begins the Heimlich maneuver.Willis told News 12 the child had been choking on a piece of candy and had started turning blue when she reached him. She says she performed several abdominal thrusts until the airway cleared.The incident happened on thursday around 11:38 a.m. at the Burke County Head Start program.Willis says she had undergone surgery less than a week earlier and is still recovering, but didn’t hesitate to act.Despite her recent operation, the video shows her lifting and working on the child until he could breathe again. Afterward, the boy appears to recover and walk away, and Willis returns to her duties.She sa