The schoolgirl kept a cool head when her mum needed help
The schoolgirl kept a cool head when her mum needed help
A schoolgirl’s quick-thinking actions helped save her mum from a medical emergency, making her family “very, very proud”. On the evening of Thursday, March 13, mum-of-three Amy Turner was enjoying an evening in at home in Netherton with her daughter, Tilly, who turned seven earlier this month.
Amy took a bath, then returned to her bedroom to watch a film with Tilly. According to Amy’s mum Janet, Amy was feeling “absolutely fine” that evening, with no sign there was anything wrong.
However, when Amy sat down on the bed next to Tilly, she suddenly collapsed. Tilly, who is a pupil at Our Lady of Walsingham School, said she saw her mum fall off the bed onto the floor.
Speaking to the ECHO from her home in Bootle, Tilly’s nan Janet said: “Amy was on the floor with foam coming out of her mouth. She was shaking too. At first Tilly thought she was being silly and messing about. But she couldn’t get any response from her mum.”
As any child naturally would in those circumstances, Tilly started crying when she saw her mum collapse. But she quickly gathered herself and made sure Amy got the help she needed by calling 999.
An ambulance crew arrived and were astonished to find Tilly had called the emergency services by herself. When she found out about it, her nan was just as surprised as the paramedics.
Janet told the ECHO: “I said to her, who told you how to call an ambulance? Have you seen it on YouTube? And she said to me, ‘no nan, I’m just a genius!’
“She’s one of the funniest characters I’ve met in my life. She’s seven going on 70. She’s never still – she’s forever cartwheeling across the living room and doing exercises. She loves singing, dancing and gymnastics.” Tilly has two sisters – Mya, 15, and Lottie, five.
Janet is understandably proud of her granddaughter’s cool-headedness in a crisis. “I’m very, very proud of her,” said Janet. “She’s absolutely beautiful and deserves the recognition.”
Amy, who had no prior history of seizures, was taken to hospital after the incident, and is now recovering at home. “Amy feels tired and weak, but other than that – touch wood – she’s been fine,” said Janet.
According to the NHS, seizures are “bursts of electrical activity in the brain that temporarily affect how it works. They can cause a wide range of symptoms.
Epilepsy can start at any age, but usually starts either in childhood or in people over 60. It’s often lifelong, but can sometimes get slowly better over time.
Having a seizure does not mean you have epilepsy. A seizure can have several causes and sometimes they’re just a one-off, but you should see a doctor to find out why it happened.
You should call 999 for an ambulance if someone:
- is having a seizure for the first time
- has a seizure that lasts more than 5 minutes
- has lots of seizures in a row
- has breathing problems or has seriously injured themselves
