A simple science lesson from a teacher in Florida may have saved the life of a fifth-grader.
Students were following teacher Michelle Digman’s lesson on the human circulatory system when Tashawn Roberts, 10-year-old felt a big lump on his neck while checking his pulse.
Unable to find the pulse he told the teacher from the Pinellas Park Elementary. After this, Tashawn was transported to a local hospital for surgery on an aneurysm in his neck the size of a golf ball. Had the aneurysm remained undetected, it might have exploded leading to brain damage or death.
Aneurysms are bulges in an artery caused by blood pressure within, forcing on an area weakened by genetic conditions or medical problems. A rupture and bleeding inside the human body can prove to be fatal.
Lessons about the circulatory system of the body are usually given later on but the teacher and Tashawn were both new to the school. Receiving the lesson later in the school term could have proved too late for the 10-year-old. The school district will put up a new study program in which science lessons are better aligned with math and reading.
Michelle Digman wasn’t supposed to be teaching in the school. She was there because the recent classification of the school as an F school because of the percentage of students failing math and reading tests. Tashawn Roberts was also new to the school and the 10-year-old grabbed the attention of the teacher.
Digman said:
“This kid is so smart and outgoing and with it, just very talented,”
Digman and the mother of the 10-year-old remained in touch in order to discuss Tashawn’s performance in school. When the boy came home and showed his mother the lump on his neck, she immediately took him to the emergency room. Doctors later repaired the aneurysm in the boy’s neck with the help of a vein from Tashawn’s leg.
After a recovery that took two weeks, Tashawn was back in school. The boy was really pleased to be near the teacher who helped in saving his life.
Digman also added:
“I found my purpose. I was meant to be here.”
