Emily Schoen of Oakdale saved drowning driving instructor

An Oakdale teenager taking his first driver’s education lesson faced an unexpected emergency when his instructor began choking.

Emily Schoen, a junior at Connetquot High School in Bohemia, performed the Heimlich maneuver on instructor Diana Marino during their first lesson together in early September. The young man said he noticed that the woman was in distress after she put the Life Saving candy in her mouth.

Schoen, 17, said the couple was traveling in a Toyota Corolla just south of the school on Norman Drive at the time. They were accompanied by three other female students sitting in the backseat.

“I pulled over because we were changing drivers, and when I went to get out of the car, I heard Diana trying to say something, but suddenly something caught in her throat,” Schoen said. “At first I started patting his back because I thought he was coughing a little. But then he started shaking his head and waving his hands around like crazy.

Schoen said everyone then got out of the car and walked to the passenger side to see if they could help Marino. The teenager then performed the Heimlich maneuver and successfully removed the candy from Marino’s throat within seconds, Schoen said.

“Everybody was shaking,” said Schoen, who estimated the episode lasted close to two minutes. “I was thinking in my head, ‘If I do this wrong, I could break his ribcage.’ I think I got him exactly right because he said it was perfect.

Marino, who works at All Care Driving School in Ronkonkoma, said the teen did a “great job.”

“Honestly, if it wasn’t for him, I would probably be dead,” said Marino, 62, of West Babylon. “I couldn’t breathe; I couldn’t handle it. I joked with him afterwards and said: ‘This is a surefire way to pass driver’s ed.’  ”

Schoen said he learned the Heimlich maneuver when he was 9 years old after his younger brother, Anthony, choked on a pizza roll and his grandfather, Brian, used the emergency procedure to help clear the blockage. His grandfather later taught him the maneuver and he said he remembered it ever since.

The teenager received a certificate of appreciation from the Connetquot school district’s Board of Education in early October for his assistance to Marino.

“We couldn’t be more proud of Emily for her quick thinking,” said Connetquot High School Principal Michael Moran. “It’s truly incredible that someone so young has these instincts.”

Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has been with Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists investigating LIRR’s platform safety issues.