Jen Medeiros and Michelle Thomas, teachers at the Alice Macomber primary school, have been closest of friends for more than 20 years — so close, in fact, that they call each other "work wife." Last Wednesday, the teachers' bond grew deeper than they'd ever imagined when one literally saved the life of the other.

It was late in the school day, and the K/Pre-K teachers were in Thomas's classroom talking with a few co-workers and discussing an e-mail they'd just received. Medeiros grabbed a few nuts out of a bowl, popped an almond into her mouth and suddenly went blank. She was choking and couldn't breathe.

Thomas, who knows her friend and former teacher's aide so well that she can usually figure out how her day is going by looking at her eyes, glanced over and instantly knew something was wrong.

"I could tell immediately," she said. "There was a weird calmness about (her) that wasn't normal."

She'd only been choking for about 10 seconds at that point, but Medeiros appeared so calm that Thomas wasn't sure what was going on. But she knew she should try administering the Heimlich Maneuver. So as not to stress her friend, she went over and whispered that she was going to try it."

"I thought she would put up her hand and say 'No,'" Thomas said. But her friend, panicking at this point, dropped her arms to her side to make administering the Heimlich easier.

"It was terrifying," Medeiros said.

Thomas put her arms around Medeiros, drew her hands together under her ribs and administered a short pull/lift. Nothing happened the first time, so she did it again, with more force. The second time did the trick, and air pressure forced the almond out of Medeiros' throat and into her mouth. She was able to breathe again, about 30 seconds after swallowing the almond.

Though Medeiros doesn't remember anything after the first attempt, "I do remember (the almond) clearing, and she came over to hug me," she said. "I was literally shaking. But it was just amazing, the manner in which she reacted. She was very calm and there was an immediacy to it."

After the incident was over and the two had a chance to consider the gravity of what'd happened, "we were both shaken up," Medeiros said. She texted her husband to tell him what had happened, and Thomas, who like her friend loves to joke, offered some advice:

"I said, 'Next time can you have (the almond) fly out across the room?' It would be much more satisfying.'"

Medeiros said she didn't sleep that night, and still feels sore from the Heimlich. But she'll take it, she joked.

This isn't the first time one has saved the life of the other, as Medeiros once took Thomas to the hospital after she began hemorrhaging following the birth of her daughter 17 years ago, and initially underestimated the gravity of her situation. In all, Thomas lost nearly half her blood that day, and would likely have died of blood loss if she hadn't been rushed to the hospital by her friend.

"So I owed it to her!" Thomas said.

Mornings in the classroom since the choking incident have been wonderful, both said, and they are glad to share a bond of trust and true friendship.

"We have a bond. We've gone though a lot of things together personally; we've laughed until we've cried, and we're always there" for the other, Thomas said.

"She gets me without even having to talk to me," said her friend.