A New York school security guard jumped into action by performing the Heimlich maneuver on a little girl who was choking. Surveillance video captured the moment he saved her life in the cafeteria.

Tyreek Johnson is a school monitor at Vails Gait STEAM Academy in New Windsor. In November, he rushed over to first grader Liyah Ventura when he saw her choking on a pretzel. 

"I was trying to pat her back, and I realized that that wasn't working. So I immediately jumped in and gave her the Heimlich," he said. 

After just a few seconds, the food was cleared from her airway, and she was safe. 

School principal Gillian Matos said all monitors are CPR-trained, but she hardly expects them to use those skills.

"You don't think that's what you're going to do when you come to work every single day, that you're going to have to save somebody. But that's what he did for Liyah," she said.

This isn't the first time - or even the second - Johnson has used his training to save a child from choking. He's done it three times over the last three years in the school cafeteria. 

Liyah's father, Raul, said he is grateful for Johnson's actions, calling him a hero.

"I love that title," Johnson said. "I'm super grateful for that title."