During jiujitsu lessons Tuesday evening, instructor Matt Baker asked 9-year-old Drew Heredia what he would do if put in a certain position he was teaching.
“I’d get on my back and do a choke hold,” he said.
It’s the same thing Drew did last week when he saved a 12-year-old girl from being mauled by a pit bull. Using a tactic he learned in class, he put the attacking dog in a chokehold and held it for at least 20 minutes until help arrived.
“I wanted my son to be in this sport in case there was ever an emergency, in case he ever had to protect himself,” mother Amy Heredia said. “I thought he’d maybe use it as a man, but I had no idea as a child.”