Mich. Teacher Saves Student's Grandmother After Recognizing Stroke Signs While Teaching Remotely

The student was having technical difficulties when the teacher called and recognized there was a problem

A Michigan elementary school teacher is being praised for her quick thinking after she helped save the life of a student’s grandmother while teaching remotely.

Julia Koch was teaching her first graders remotely at Edgewood Elementary School in Muskegon Heights late last month when one student began experiencing technical difficulties, she told NBC affiliate WOOD.

“Her… device was not charging,” Koch said.

To help get to the root of the issue, Koch called Cynthia Phillips, the student’s grandmother, to solve the problem — and that’s when she realized something was not right.

“When she started speaking, I could tell that there was something wrong,” Koch told WOOD. “I wasn’t sure what was wrong, but there was something wrong.”

Koch quickly alerted school administrators, who called 911. Phillips was having a stroke — and while she remains hospitalized, she is expected to survive.

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Phillips told the outlet that she’s already walking again, and heaped praise on Koch for stepping in when she did.

“Thank you for saving my life,” Phillips said. “If it weren’t for them getting me the help I needed, I would’ve just not been here.”

The quick thinking of Koch and her colleagues was also lauded by Muskegon Heights Fire Chief Chris Dean.

“I think that this teacher’s action very well could’ve saved the woman’s life, but at the least, improved the quality of the rest of her life,” he told WOOD.

There are several major warning signs that someone might be suffering a stroke, including sudden numbness or weakness of face, arm or leg, sudden confusion and trouble speaking or understanding speech, sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes, sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination, and a sudden severe headache with no known cause, according to the American Heart Association.