Six-year-old given bravery award after saving mother's life with 999 call
Ambulance staff have given a little girl from Conwy a special award for bravery after she called 999 when her mother collapsed at home.
Six-year-old Bea Dean-Lewis was playing a computer card game with mum Lucie Williams at their home in Old Colwyn when Lucie fell unconscious.
Lucie, 40, said: “Bea told me that I grabbed my ‘poorly heart’ and that my head had fallen onto the keyboard.
“She tried to lift my head up and that’s when I must have fallen to the floor.”
Bea quickly found her mum's mobile phone and unlocked it, but struggled to locate the keypad to dial for help.
Undeterred, she went straight to the landline and phoned 999 to summon the emergency services.
During the call, Bea fights back tears as she tells the operator: "Can you just tell someone to come here and check my mummy please?
"She's on the floor. I can tell she's not sleeping. I don't know what's happening."
Brave Bea goes on to tell the operator she lives in "number three house" and stays on the line until help arrives.
Listen to the 999 call brave Bea made here:
Police officers from nearby Colwyn Bay were first on the scene and fetched the public access defibrillator mounted at North Wales Police headquarters, just in case.
Paramedics also arrived within minutes and Lucie regained consciousness, but was still rushed to hospital, where she remained for four days.
Tests would later reveal that Lucie had arrhythmia, a problem with the rate of the heartbeat.
Lucie said: “We had talked previously about what to do in an emergency and also not letting strangers into the house.
“The call handler was amazing and so calm, even helping Bea to check the door and use the key to open it.
“I am so proud of Bea and I thank the call handler so much.”
Katie Williams answered Bea’s emergency call at a contact centre in Llanfairfechan.
The 23-year-old from Holyhead has been an emergency call handler for two years.
Katie said: “When I found out Bea was only six and that her mum was unconscious it made me think hard about what I was saying. Every call is different, but because of her young age I think I felt a bit more pressure in a way.
“Bea sounded very smart and did incredibly well in understanding everything I was asking of her. I was particularly impressed by her awareness of ‘stranger danger’ and not letting just anybody in to the house.
“I thought she was amazing and did a brilliant job for her mum.”
At one point during the call, Katie needed to identify exactly where Bea was calling from and can be heard asking her to look for post.Katie said “It just popped into my head, anything that she might be able to find with an address.
“Luckily Bea knew the house number and the phone line populated the street on my screen so we were able to work it out to get there as quick as we could.”
Staff at the Welsh Ambulance Service were so impressed with Bea’s actions that they have awarded her a commendation certificate for her bravery.
Chief executive Jason Killens said: “This is a perfect example of how important it is for parents and schools to educate their children on correct use of the 999 number.
“What Bea did that night was superb, and undoubtedly achieved the right outcome for her mum with the help of our skilled call handlers.
“We pay tribute to her brave actions and her calm nature and wish her mum all the best for a full recovery.”
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