'The sister I never had': Westport teachers have history of saving each other's life
WESTPORT - When you walk through the doors of Macomber Primary School in Westport you will find colorful classrooms, artwork filled hallways, and a friendship between two of its teachers that lasted more than 20 years.
Jennifer Medeiros and Michelle Thomas are both kindergarten teachers. Their classrooms have been next to each other for the better part of two decades.
"We have always worked so well together and throughout the years she has become the sister I never had," said Thomas. "We laugh all the time. We cry if we need to."
Last week, Medeiros was talking with other teachers in her classroom while eating almonds. One of the almonds went down the wrong pipe. "I don't know if I was laughing or responding to something," Medeiros said. "I was chewing on an almond and I could feel it. It was stuck right here. I just remember thinking, 'Oh God, that doesn't feel like something I can fix."
Medeiros said she could not speak or breathe and described blacking out in the moments after. Her coworker had already stepped in to help.
Thomas said, "Her eyes were just big saucers and I looked at her and I said, 'Are you OK?"
Thomas said she told Medeiros she was going to do the Heimlich maneuver expecting Medeiros to push back but instead she put her arms down to her side as a way to get ready. Thomas said she started performing the Heimlich and after two attempts was able to dislodge the almond and allow Medeiros to breathe again.
This is not the first time one of these friends stepped in to help the other in an emergency. In 2005, Thomas had just given birth to her second child when Medeiros came over to visit. Thomas looked pale and said she started to feel dizzy. "I felt weak just not right," Thomas said. "Something was off."
Thomas was hemorrhaging and Medeiros helped rush her to the hospital. Doctors told Thomas she needed several transfusions and lost the equivalent of half of her blood.
"When I woke up the doctor said you are very lucky," Thomas recalled as she started to become emotional recounting the story.
The story of their friendship goes far beyond the lessons taught in their classrooms. Teaching the value of friendship to their students while leading by example.