McKinney honors 12-year-old who saved sibling's life hours after learning how in a class

    MCKINNEY, Texas (KTVT) -- November 2 was a normal day for 12-year-old Auri Agramont and her sister Suri. They were preparing to walk their dogs outside their McKinney home when the 8-year-old started choking.

"She, like, leaned back, [to] take a deep breath," said Auri. "And she did the motions like to cough, but no air was coming out. So I got scared. I didn't know what was happening."

The 8-year-old had a piece of candy stuck in her throat, unable to breathe.

Auri applied the Heimlich maneuver on Suri and possibly saved her sister's life.

It's a skill she had learned only hours earlier in a babysitting training class sponsored by the McKinney Fire Department with help from Baylor Scott & White nurses.

"I've been wanting to babysit, but I kind of wanted to find a reason for parents [to] trust me with their kids," Auri said. "So my aunt saw that class and recommended it to my mom."

Tuesday night, McKinney's mayor and city council honored Auri with an award in front of her proud parents.

"Even though, if you do have that training, not everybody has that ability to just stay calm and react and do something," said Paula Branez, Auri's mother. "So, we are very proud of you because you did it."

McKinney Fire Chief Paul Dow says what happened illustrates why basic life-saving skills are important for everyone to learn.

"When she was describing the technique that she was using, she described it exactly the way we teach it," said Dow. "So she's paying attention, which is great."

Two young girls bound by sisterhood can continue to grow up together all because one of them knew what to do in an emergency.