A sixth-grader from Muskogee, Oklahoma, is being honored for saving two people’s lives—all in one day.
Davyon Johnson (11 years old) was at the school’s water fountain when he saw a seventh-grade student choke. The cap got lodged in the throat of the seventh-grade student while he was opening a water container with his teeth.
“I’m choking. I’m choking,” whispered the boy between gasps while trying to find help.
Davyon was at the right spot at the right time. Davyon pulled everyone out of his way and performed the Heimlich maneuver as students began to crowd around him. It took three thrusts before the cap flew out of the boy’s mouth.
He was treated by emergency medical workers. He was fine the next day, thanks to his miraculous recovery.
After being inspired by his uncle Wendell Johnson (an emergency medical technician), Davyon learned how to save lives on YouTube. Since he was six years of age, he had always wanted to become an EMT.
Davyon was shaken by the incident, but he continued his day as usual. LaToya Johnson, his mom, picked him up later in the day and they returned to the road that evening for a church service.
That’s when the boy saved person number two.
Ms. Johnson noticed smoke coming from a house around 5 p.m. She didn’t think anything of it at first, but Davyon insisted they check.
“No, Momma, this is a house on fire,’” he said at the time.
Ms. Johnson turned the car around, and that’s when they saw a small fire near the back of the house. The growing fire was not being noticed by the people inside, so Ms. Johnson honked and called 911.
Davyon frantically knocked at the front door of his burning home while he was still in the car.
Five people ran outside when they saw what was going on. However, a sixth person—an elderly woman using a walker—was struggling to escape from the home.
“She wasn’t moving fast enough,” Davyon recalled. “So I’ve got to kind of help her get to her truck because everybody was leaving.”
With Davyon’s help, the woman reached her truck. The sun was setting, and church services would start soon, so Davyon said goodbye to the stranger he had just saved and got into his mother’s car. He looked out the window to see fire trucks leaving as they drove off.
Ms. Johnson said her son showed his true self when it came to saving the lives and health of others.
“He’s always been there to help, whenever he can,” she said. “He’s just still the same kid. It’s not like it’s made him any more or any less.”
His community honored Davyon for his remarkable feat. On December 15, the Muskogee Police Department and Muskogee County Sheriff’s Office rewarded him with a certificate naming him an honorary member of their forces.
Muskogee Mayor Marlon J. Coleman also declared December 9 as “Davyon Johnson Day” in the city.
Latricia Dawkins, Davyon’s school principal, described him as “always willing to help, always just a friend to everyone.”
When asked about his heroic deeds, Davyon simply puts them as “the right thing do,” which is why he couldn’t understand all the recognition he’s been receiving.
“He said to me: ‘I don’t want everyone to pay attention to me. I kind of did what I was supposed to do,’” said Ms. Dawkins said. “I don’t think he actually internalized how important the feat was that he did.”
Davyon was eight when his father, Willie James Logan rushed into an apartment block in Muskogee, to make sure everyone was safe. He wasn’t a firefighter, but he chose to do the right thing that day.
Davyon said that’s something his dad has instilled in him. Unfortunately, he died on August 16 from COVID-19 complications. He was 52.
Davyon only tells people about what he did on December 9 when he’s asked, but there was one person he wanted to deliberately share it with.
He went to the cemetery one morning to visit his father and tell him stories of that fateful day.
Good job, Davyon! Click the video to see more details about this story.
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