By JOHN THOMPSON
jthompson@TheCitizenNews.com

Tina Eden remebers the feeling of absolute panic.

She was sitting in her classroom at Landmark Christian School during a planning period when she started choking.

"I remember taking a bite of a sandwich and a bite of a Dorito and not being able to breathe," she said.

As the room started fading to black, Eden felt pressure on her back and immediately started coughing up the blockage.

Luckily, her son, fifth grader Jimmy Eden, was in her clasroom and performed the Heimlich maneuver.

Tina Eden, who teaches elementary art at the school, believes her son was placed in that classroom for a reason.

"He had been sick that week, but got up that morning to go to school. He started getting sick again, so I just brought him into my classroom with me," she said.

Eden is convinced that she would have died if her son had not been in in the room.

"There was not another class scheduled for another 50 minutes," she said.

For his efforts, Jason Eden has been honored for heroism and valor.

He was presented with a plaque by Fulton County Paramedic/firefighter Tom Bohn during a chapel gathering at the school.

Bohn demonstrated the lifesaving maneuver to the students after presenting the award to Jimmy and, since that time, all faculty and staff at Landmark have updated their CPR certifications as a precautionary measure.

The plaque Jimmy received was donated by John Gossett from Iron Horse Graphics in Fairburn. The inscription read, "Not everyone is touched by God and blessed with the awesome task of helping Him rescue, in time of peril, one of His souls. This blessing is reserved for a chosen few and in this case is twofold as the soul in peril was not only that of Jimmy's teacher but was also that of his loving mother."

Jimmy and his mother and sister live in Peachtree City.