A five-year-old girl from Pode Hall, Lincolnshire has received a bravery award from EMAS after coming to her mum’s rescue when she became seriously unwell at home on 5 April 2024.
38-year-old Kirsty Brisbane was sat on her sofa when she rolled off and started to have a seizure.
Lola remained calm while faced with a distressing situation. As there was no other adult at home, she utilised Kirsty’s Apple Watch to call 999.
The call was answered by Emergency Medical Advisor Tim Higham-Jones. He was so impressed with how Lola conducted herself, that he nominated her for the EMAS Children’s Bravery Award.
Tim said: “Lola was brilliant throughout the call.
“She was able to answer all the questions asked, confirming her mum was not awake and breathing noisily.
“It’s always important for us to get the right information so we can arrange the appropriate help, and Lola made this very easy to do.
“At times during the call, Lola would be reassuring her mum that help was being arranged and it was on its way.
“If you have pets, we will advise you to move them to another room before the arrival of the ambulance crew. Lola worked hard to coax their family dog into another room by tempting them with a treat.
“It’s been lovely getting to meet Lola and her mum Kirsty in person and presenting Lola with her well-deserved award in recognition of her brave actions.”
Lola’s aunt, and Kirsty’s sister-in-law Emma arrived at the house during the call. This is because Kirsty’s Apple Watch sent an alert to Emma as a nominated contact. This message stated that Kirsty was in trouble and accessing emergency help for assistance.
Emma was swiftly followed by paramedics Helen Pearl and Glynn Roache.
Glynn said: “Lola did an admirable job calling 999 as this was the right course of action to take to get the help Kirsty needed.
“Lola was quite calm and collected.
“I had to ask her questions about the type of seizure that Kirsty had, and Lola was very open about what had occurred.
“The information she provided us meant we were able to assess Kirsty, looking for any potential injuries based on what had happened.
“Kirsty was starting to come around from her seizure as we arrived, and Lola stayed by her mum’s side the entire time. This will have given Kirsty a lot of reassurance.”
Speaking of that morning, Kirsty said: “I’m super proud of her.
“I began having seizures at the start of this year, which is now being treated for epilepsy.
“My first seizure happened outside Lola’s school. Afterwards I sat her down to explain that mummy may fall down and start to shake.
“She has witnessed me have a seizure a few times prior to that day, but she would normally be able to get another grown-up to help.
“Every parent I’ve spoken to after hearing what happened doesn’t feel their children would know what to do if they were in the same situation. I feel passionate about children being educated on what to do if they see an emergency happen.
“Because of this, I have been teaching Lola to remember her home address and how to call 999 since she was four years old.”
Speaking of Lola’s award ceremony, Kirsty added: “We cannot thank EMAS enough for this, it’s been wonderful.
“It’s been really lovely to see how Lola has taken it all in her stride.”