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BRADENTON (FOX 13) - At Manatee School for the Arts, students in a health career class experienced a textbook scenario when their teacher fell ill during class.
"At first she was doing work and she was leaning forward and when she went back in her chair, you could tell something was wrong and she wasn't breathing," said Johane Edmond.
Soula Hill was filling in as a substitute teacher when she began having a medical episode.
"I was really scared, but I guess it all flew out of my mind when I realized this was real," said Katherine Hughes.
Hill's students jumped into action.
"We all really wanted to help her in the best way we could," said Queenie Zheng.
Freshman Katherine Hughes says she didn't think twice.
"We had a job to do. Keep her alive, keep her from dying basically," she said.
She grabbed a phone and called 911.
"The 911 operator told me to make sure someone was running down to the clinic, to the office, she was the one giving the instructions. I just carried them out," she said.
Meanwhile, junior Queenie Zheng kept Miss Hill steady while seniorJohane Edmond worked to move their teacher to the ground.
Another student ran next door to Dr. Steven Marshall's room.
"A student came in. She was very distressed. She said, 'I need help. My teacher needs help. Come quick,'" he said.
Dr. Marshall found Miss Hill passed out. Seconds later she stopped breathing and he started CPR.
"What was going through our mind was, we all had a responsibility because we were the only ones there," said Dr.Marshall.
Miss Hill eventually began breathing.
"I felt like everybody did such a great job helping her," said Zheng.
Their teacher is recovering and hopes to return to school soon. The reality of what happened has just started to settle in.
"They're humble. They don't make a big deal out of it. They don't talk about it much. They just see it as: 'I did what I had to do.' It's that attitude that's really amazing about our kids," said Dr. Marshall