'These are my babies': Fayetteville teacher saves choking student during lunch

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Fayetteville teacher is being hailed as a hero after she saved a student's life.

The saying goes, "Real heroes don't wear capes." While true, in Ms. Hunter's case, they wear t-shirts instead.

"He came to me and said 'Ms. Hunter you saved my life,'" said Alicia Hunter.

Hunter teaches Language Arts and Social Studies at Capital Encore Academy.

She was seating her third graders inside the lunch room when one of her students flagged her down.

"The child tapped me and said 'Ms. Hunter he's choking' and I turned around and this student had his hands around is neck and he was just as red as a cherry," said Hunter.

With little time to think, Hunter rushed over.

"So I pulled him out of his seat and started doing my training I got earlier this year at Red Cross. And so I bent him over, put my hands in a fist over his abdomen area and just pushed and it came up. He's fine," said Hunter.

According to the National Safety Council, choking is the fourth leading cause of death for young children -- a statistic Alicia Hunter couldn't allow her student to become.

"No I cannot imagine anything happening and that's why I don't feel like I did anything special. I feel like I did what I was supposed to do. These are my babies. I'm here to protect them. Here to serve them. I'm here to teach them and be their mom when their mom is not here," said Hunter.

"His parents were very thankful. I talked to his dad that day and he thanked me over the phone. The next day, I received flowers. He sent sunflowers because I told him my favorite flowers were sunflowers."