First graders come to teacher's rescue

Wes Tomlinson, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·2 min read
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Feb. 16—ARDMORE — Cedar Hill Elementary students were in the middle of a lesson in Tracy Hodges' first grade class last month when they realized something was not right and performed an act that school nurse Kristin Dorning hailed as heroic.

Hodges was in the middle of teaching when she suddenly felt dizzy.

"As soon as I sat down, my vision started to get blurry," Hodges said. "The next thing I knew my head started to shake and I told the students to go get help and that is all I remember."

Hodges then fainted and the 11 students in the classroom reacted immediately.

"They were definitely heroes that day," Dorning said. "They came in my office and were very calm that day and told me their teacher had fallen out of her chair. As soon as they told me, I jumped up and ran to her classroom."

First grade student Raely Blakely said the incident upset her but she is thankful her teacher is well and back in her classroom.

"We were doing our stations and me and somebody else were the closest to her," Blakely said. "We knew something was wrong so they all ran to the nurse to tell her what happened."

Hodges said she is not surprised at her students' behavior.

"They are just a real caring bunch and they want to help others," Hodges said. "They show kindness every day to everyone they talk to."

Hodges regained consciousness later that day in the school.

"I just remember waking up to Nurse Dorning praying over me and seeing my husband there," Hodges said.

Hodges later discovered that she had suffered a seizure that was brought on by COVID-19 complications. At the time, Hodges did not know she had the virus.

"The only symptom I had was dizziness, so I didn't really think anything of it," Hodges said. "After I had the seizure, I had to quarantine for a week but I was fine."

Cedar Hill Elementary along with Limestone Sheriff Joshua McLaughlin, Ardmore Police Chief Jereme Robison and members of Ardmore Fire and Rescue are honoring Hodges' class today for their heroic deed.

Dorning said that while the school had no COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday, many students and staff had the virus in January.

"You know, we had some students that had reported dizziness around that time and they all came back with positive (COVID) tests," Dorning said.

— wesley.tomlinson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.