"I'm very proud of her very proud of her," he said.
Victoria sprang into action when her father began choking on a piece of bread in their kitchen.
"I really didn't think I was going to make it. That's how bad it got," Scalli said.
The 12-year old had just learned the Heimlich maneuver in a life-saving skills class at Merrick Avenue Middle School.
"I hear my dad like gasping for air and I knew something was wrong so I ran in there. My mom was trying to do the Heimlich and my sister was crying and freaking out," Victoria said.
Victoria got right behind her father who was bent over the sink.
"She just came right in and was very calm about the whole thing. Her sister was in a panic. She just blocked all of that out and went to work on him and it worked," her mom, Nancy Scalli, said.
And for her heroism, Victoria received a Senate Liberty Medal today. It's one of the highest civilian honors in the state.
"That's our ultimate goal as Phys Ed teachers is for them to learn something and I can't be more proud of her. She listened. She took something from our class," Mallory Cogen, Victoria's physical education teacher, said.
Very few districts in New York State have classes that allow students to learn life-saving skills. People say this is a perfect example of why they all should.
"We need to have this as a state law that all school districts do this," State Sen. Charles Fuschillo Jr. said.
In the meantime, Victoria has some advice for her fellow classmates.
"They should like pay attention in gym because it's really important to learn," Victoria said.
Because you just never know.
