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Cheerleader Jumps Off Homecoming Parade Float To Save Choking Toddler

A Texas high school cheerleader is being hailed a hero after she sprang into action and saved the life of a choking toddler during a homecoming parade, ABC News reported.

Tyra Winters, 17, noticed the struggling child and wasted no time jumping off her parade float to rush to his side, ultimately saving the boy's life.

On September 18, Winters, the football team, and her fellow cheer squad were sitting on Rockwall High School's homecoming float.

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Flashing a wide smile, the teen waved at the eager crowd who all came out to enjoy the parade, but soon heard a woman crying out for help.

Scanning the crowd, she noticed a little boy whose face was "super, super red."

The toddler was choking on a piece of candy and his frantic mother was unable to help him.

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"At this point, he's kind of turning purple," Winters recalled.

That's when she jumped off the float, hurrying over to the boy and his mother to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

"I picked him up and then I tilted him downwards and gave him two or three back thrusts," she said. "He then was spitting everything up."

That little boy whose life she saved was 2-year-old Clarke Hornback who was at the parade with his mom, Nicole.

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Relaying the terrifying moment to ABC News, Nicole said she happened to look over at her son at one point during the parade and noticed something was wrong.

"There was no noise," she recalled, "no coughing, no breathing."

After realizing what was happening, Nicole tried to perform the Heimlich on Clarke, but was unable to help him.

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She admitted she had never really learned how to perform the life-saving move and couldn't replicate it properly. Desperate, she reached out for help from the crowd.

"I just literally was holding him out and just running through the crowd trying to hand him off to anyone."

Of course, that's when Winters stepped in.

Winters' school released a statement about the teen following her lifesaving actions at the parade.

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"Tyra Winters is not your ordinary high school cheerleader," the post reads. "Not only can she tumble down the field while leading a crowd, she is a hero!"

It goes on to emphasize that it was her "courage and kind spirit" that helped save Clarke's life.

The teen recently reunited with Clarke and his mom where many grateful hugs were shared.

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Nicole said she's thankful Winters was there at the parade that day and sprang into action so quickly.

"She saved my baby," Nicole told DFW-CBS News. "I commend her for being a teenager and being trained."

As for Winters, she says she's grateful her own mom taught her how to do the Heimlich.

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"I knew exactly what to do from that point on," she said.

Clarke didn't remember Winters at their reunion, which his mom explains is because of his young age: "He doesn't even remember what he ate for breakfast." But, the pair did share a pleasant afternoon together, topped off with an epic high-five.

h/t: ABC News, DFW-CBS News

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