An 8-year-old Clinton Township student is grateful to be alive after her school principal performed the Heimlich maneuver to save her from choking on a water bottle cap.

Earlier this month, Piper Irwin was in her second-grade classroom at Miami Elementary School when she went to take a sip from her water bottle. Without realizing the cap was still on, the tiny cap shot into the back of her throat when she tried to drink.

"It was really painful, in my mouth, really hard to get it out," Piper said. "I couldn't get it out, and then the principal helped me."

Dr. Katie Shellabarger, the school's principal who students call "Dr. S," was in a meeting when she heard an emergency call over her walkie-talkie. She immediately sprinted to Piper's classroom and found the student struggling to breath

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