Miami-Dade school resource officer honored for saving a teacher’s life

MIAMI – The quick actions of a Miami-Dade public school resource officer are credited with saving a South Florida’s teachers life.
Tangela McBride is grateful to be alive after passing out in her classroom at Pine View Elementary.
After hearing a call for help over his security radio, Officer Nicholas Diaz ran to the classroom and sprang into action. After noticing a faint pulse he began life-saving measures.
“I dropped down, got on my knee and gave her a sternum rub to see if she would come back because she was unconscious but she was breathing. When I applied the sternum rub to her, she had stopped breathing, so at that point, I ended up having to start doing CPR,” said Diaz.
McBride was told she had flatlined seven times, but Diaz was persistent.
“I’m like, ‘Oh, my ribs were cracked,’ and the doctor told me, ‘Well if they don’t crack your ribs, they didn’t do it right’. He kept trying, he didn’t give up, he could’ve easily given up but he didn’t,” said McBride.
While Diaz is hailed a hero for the life-saving measures, he said it’s thanks to 5-year-old Alijah Terry, who helped notify another teacher that McBride was down.
Terry said someone came to his classroom door and when he opened it he said there was something wrong with McBride.
“Thankfully Alijah opened the door because if he had not opened that door, we wouldn’t have known what happened,” said Diaz.
Both Diaz and Terry were honored by the school district for their quick thinking. As for Mcbride, she said she has three angels; Terry, the teacher who came to the door and Diaz.
“Thank you. I’m forever grateful. I mean there’s no words that I could use to express how much he truly means to me and my life,” she said.
McBride is expected to make a full recovery and return to her classroom at Pine Villa Elementary in November.
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