A student in Red Rock is being honored on February 3, 2023, for saving his teammate’s life.
Around this time last week, the Frontier High School boys basketball team was eating dinner together when a player started choking on a piece of steak.
That’s when Derek Bible started performing a couple of Heimlich maneuvers. The senior student is now being called a local hero.
“You the man, you the man,” School leaders said to Bible as they presented him with a plaque. “Proud of you.”
A moment Bible wasn’t able to put into words.
“It means a lot,” Bible said. “I don’t know.”
Bible’s teammates say he’s too humble to accept any kind of recognition, but tonight the sophomore escort he saved, Trey Shotton, showed his appreciation anyways.
“Made me feel like somebody that would actually be there for me,” Shotton said. “Gave me a lot of respect for Derek [Bible].”
The moment that piece of steak went down the wrong pipe, Shotton tapped on the homecoming king’s leg.
“I’m like, ‘What’s up bro? He looks at me, and just points at his throat and mouth,” Bible said. “I’m just like, ‘What?’ Then I just see that there’s these tears running down his face. I’m like, ‘Oh, dang. He’s choking.”
Bible immediately performed what he learned in a tribal class: the Heimlich maneuver. His coach Bob Weckstein was in the other room of the restaurant at the time, but he heard people clapping after Bible saved Shotton’s life.
“Derek [Bible’s] everything you’d expect in a hero,” Coach Weckstein said. “He’s a team-first guy, he’s just a great guy, a great student. He’s the kind of guy you’d want dating your daughter.”
Compliments aside, it was a moment the senior will never forget.
“That was the last thing I expected: to save a life,” Bible said.
Fox 25 asked coach Weckstein if he would ever consider having his team undergo CPR and Heimlich maneuver training. Weckstein says after a near-death experience, absolutely.