JROTC cadet saves peer from choking

Brush Prairie — Air Force Junior ROTC cadet Ben Lee never thought he’d have to use the Heimlich maneuver when he learned the technique several years ago. But in February, the Prairie High School senior’s Eagle Scout training paid off when Lee helped force out a piece of a hot dog that was blocking the airway of a peer using the abdominal thrusting move. Lee received the silver JROTC Valor Award for his life-saving action at the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps senior awards ceremony on May 16. Lee was eating lunch on Feb. 23 at an ROTC drill competition at the high school when fellow cadet Diego Martinez began choking. “I looked at Ben, and I grabbed my throat and gargled the words, ‘I’m choking,'” the Mountain View High School student said in a press release. “Because of Ben Lee’s quick reaction and calmness, I am here today.”