A tall, lanky 17-year-old grandson, Jerry Bellissima, and his 76-year-old grandfather, Tony Del Rosso, are always close, but now much closer given the events of two weeks ago.
On January 9th, Tony was in his recliner with a bowl of nuts nearby watching a football game on TV. Jerry was sitting a few steps away texting on his phone.
Tony doesn't remember much, but one of the peanuts went down the wrong way.
"Usually, I thought you would be choking, be coughing, none of it. I was out like a light," Tony said.
At that point, Teddy the family dog started barking.
Jerry looked up from his phone and didn't like what he saw.
"I look at my grandfather and he goes out and his eyes rolled back," Jerry said.
After several sharp moves, Jerry says a peanut popped out of his grandfather's mouth.
Tony came sputtering back.
At that point the teen alerted his grandmother.
"Jerry, you're my hero," grandmother Fran Del Rosso said.
Jerry, a high school junior, credits his effort to a class he took at Sewell's Wedgewood School when he was in fourth grade. He remembers an instructor coming in and demonstrating the Heimlich maneuver.
As we said a grandson and a grandfather always close, but now much closer.
"He was literally a lifesaver," Tony said.
