Student with autism saves teacher

The educator was having a severe diabetic episode and needed help

By Lisa Gartner
Tampa Bay Times Blogs

TAMPA BAY, Fla. — Mike Dupuis was eating breakfast in the New Heights cafeteria when he went to grab orange juice. Dupuis did not drink the juice, but gave it to an Exceptional Student Education associate who he noticed was acting strange -- she was sweating, and confused.

Audrey McCaulsky was having a severe diabetic episode. And Dupuis, a New Heights fifth-grader with autism, is credited by the St. Petersburg school system for saving McCaulsky's life by getting her juice and alerting an adult to the situation. According to Pinellas County Schools, paramedics checked McCaulsky's sugar levels at 26. When blood sugar falls below 50, a person begins to lose mental function, can lose consciousness, and have seizures.

"Mike's quick thinking and calm reaction saved Ms. McCaulsky," the boy's teacher, Cheryl Collette, said. McCaulsky was hired by the school system in 2007. She lives in St. Petersburg.

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