LEXINGTON COUNTY, S.C. — Jumping into action, teachers, administrators and the school nurse at Nursery Road Elementary saved the life of a kindergarten student when he was having a medical emergency Wednesday.
It all started during a normal lunch hour for 6-year-old Wells Jones.
Then, administrators told News 19, his classmates noticed him slumped over in his food. They quickly got the attention of their teacher, who rushed over to his side.
Everyone at Nursery Road Elementary sprang into action. Teachers started moving students out of the cafeteria and the assistant principal called parents.
"When I get there, I see the nurse is working with the student as well as his teacher and the assistant (principal) and he is there on the floor, Principal Love Ligons said. "He's obviously seizing, so the nurse was quickly responding and taking care of him."
Everyone at Nursery Road Elementary sprang into action. Teachers started moving students out of the cafeteria and the assistant principal called parents.
"They kept calling until they were able to get dad. Dad was able to get in contact with mom. Mom got in contact with auntie, who lives here in the neighborhood, so the auntie came, but in the meanwhile I was preparing, I was like I am going, this child will not be by themselves, I am going to the hospital with them," Ligons said.
Principal Love Ligons said she ran down the hallway when she heard the news in the middle of her lunch meeting.
"So the instinct, you start running and you do everything and anything you can to make sure that they're okay," Ligons said.
She said from that point forward she treated Wells as if he was her own child, singing to him to keep him conscious and wrapping him in a blanket on a beanbag.
His mother said she was eternally grateful.
"All around the school just did a great job with getting fast care for my son. I appreciate all the medical decisions that they made in my absence. It was exactly what I would have wanted as a parent," LaToya Curry-Jones, Wells' mother said.
EMS arrived on scene to take him to PRISMA Health Children's Hospital.
His mother tells News 19 they stayed overnight, learning Wells has a new diagnosis of epilepsy.
He is now being loved on thanks to educators who stepped up in a time of need.
Wells' mother said they were discharged Thursday afternoon. This family has been learning about their son's new treatment process, medications and form of care.
Curry-Jones said they are hoping to send Wells back to school Tuesday.