Teacher surprised with award after saving student’s life

BRUNSWICK COUNTY (WWAY) — A Brunswick county teacher’s assistant was surprised with an award after he saving 16-year-old Matias McCain’s life.

According to his parents, McCain loves hugs, fun, and school, attending a special class at North Brunswick High School.

“He makes friends with everybody,” his mother, Heather McCain said. “I’ve never met anybody that doesn’t make fast friends with Matias.”

Matias has autism and epilepsy, and according to his parents, he’s unable to speak or communicate like other students. They say it would’ve been easy to miss when he began to choke on a cookie last Monday during snacktime. McCain turned purple and fell out of his chair. That’s when Blake Hobbs, a teaching assistant sprang into action.

“He wasn’t responding,” Hobbs remembered. “I threw him over my shoulder and did back thrusts and I felt something break loose. I laid him on his side and did a finger sweep. And he threw up and the life slowly came back into his body. Best feeling in the world.”

Hobbs has 20 years of first aid experience, and knew he could lose the boy in a matter of minutes.

“I stayed calm, but I wasn’t inside,” he said. “When it was all over, I went to the bathroom and cried about 20 minutes. It shook me up.”

After hearing about the incident, the Brunswick County Board of Education awarded Hobbs the very first Chairman’s Award, surprising him during class.

Chairman Steven Barger says Hobbs’ bravery made him an obvious first candidate.

According to Barger, “It shows their dedication, to more than just the education. It’s about making a difference in children’s lives.”

Though he’s honored by the award, Hobbs and McCain’s parents are just thankful he was in the right place at the right time.

“I’ve been around death before,” Hobbs said. “But like I said, I’m just glad that I sent him home to his mom and daddy.”
“Grateful. Grateful, yeah, that’s the perfect word,” Bronson McCain smiled thankfully.

Matias was all smiles in Tuesday’s award ceremony. His parents say since the incident, he’s only been eating pureed food at school.