{"id":6671,"date":"2019-06-20T04:06:30","date_gmt":"2019-06-20T08:06:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/?p=6671"},"modified":"2019-06-20T04:41:28","modified_gmt":"2019-06-20T08:41:28","slug":"seaside-heights-honors-lifeguard-who-saved-infants-life-while-on-lunch-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shorebeat.com\/lavallette-seaside\/2019\/06\/seaside-heights-honors-lifeguard-who-saved-infants-life-while-on-lunch-break\/","title":{"rendered":"Seaside Heights Honors Lifeguard Who Saved Infant’s Life While on Lunch Break"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Peter LaQuaglia receives the Lifesaving Award in Seaside Heights, June 19, 2019. (Photo: Daniel Nee)<\/p><\/div>\n

Seaside Heights lifeguards are responsible for keeping swimmers safe, but their lifesaving prowess also extends onto land \u2013 as proven by the quick-thinking heroics of one guard who is credited with saving the life of a choking infant.<\/p>\n

Peter LaQuaglia, a Toms River college student who has been a guard for five years, was honored by the borough council on Wednesday for his actions June 7, when he stepped in and saved an infant while on his lunch break.<\/p>\n

LaQuaglia, 20, met up with a friend for pizza at Spicy Cantina, but while enjoying a slice, he heard the frantic call for help from a woman down the boardwalk near Midway Steaks. Her grandson was choking on what appeared to be a plastic ring from a soft drink bottle cap and appeared to have stopped breathing. The guard, a college football linebacker, jumped up from his table to help.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefinitely, adrenaline kicked in,\u201d LaQuaglia told Shorebeat. \u201cGoing up to the scene, in my mind I went right to my prior training. I actually completed the class two weeks before \u2013 it was the same class I took the previous two years, but we had just brushed up on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He applied the Heimlich maneuver on the child \u2013 no simple feat given the sensitive size of a 10-month-old \u2013 and he coughed up the piece of plastic, which LaQuaglia removed before checking for additional obstructions.<\/p>\n