Two sisters from Toton, Nottinghamshire have both received bravery awards from EMAS. Maisie and Grace Tooley, aged 11 and 12 respectively, came to their dad’s rescue when he became seriously unwell at home on 13 September 2024.
46-year-old Adam Tooley, who is a General Practitioner (GP), credits Maisie and Grace for the help they provided him when he collapsed suddenly at home and became unresponsive.
Adam said: “I had only been back home 20 minutes and was tidying stuff away when I started to feel light-headed.
“My next memory is being in the back of the ambulance.
“You never think anything like this will happen to you and that you’re somehow invincible.”
Unknown to Adam or those around him, he had experienced a vasovagal syncope – simply put, a brief loss of consciousness.
Speaking of that day, 12-year-old Grace added: “Dad was heating up dinner when he told me he felt dizzy.
“He then went into the hallway and fell backwards and hit his head on the cabinet, which made his head bleed.
“I shook him and shouted at him but got no response. He started shaking (fitting).”
11-year-old Maisie said: “Dad stopped shaking and then began to snore loudly.
“I called 999 while Grace was on the phone to our mum.
“We were scared but the lady on the phone from the ambulance service told us to roll him on his back and see if his chest was going up and down.
“She helped us by giving us instructions of what we needed to do to help dad.”
Grace and Maisie’s emergency call was answered by Emergency Medical Advisor, Sam Priestley.
She was really impressed with how they handled the situation.
Explaining why she nominated the sisters for the EMAS Bravery Award, Sam said: “I could not fault them from start to finish.
“Grace and Maisie were able to get their dad the response he needed based on the vital information they were able to provide during the call.
“They were able to give me clear and direct answers to every question I asked them, despite being faced with the very scary situation of their dad being poorly, bleeding and unresponsive.
“They were two of the loveliest kids I’ve ever spoken to. Very polite and great at listening to instructions.”
While all this was happening, Charlie Tooley – Adam’s partner and mother to Grace and Maisie – received a phone call from Grace to say what had happened.
Charlie, a Nurse Practitioner who works at the same GP practice as Adam, rushed home from a dinner out with friends to be with Adam and the girls as the emergency crew arrived.
This consisted of Peter Hibbitt, Paramedic Oliver Bere, and Trent District Community First Responder Harry Disney.
Thanks to all the information provided by Grace and Maisie of what happened, the crew had a clear picture of the situation. They treated Adam’s open head injury and stabilised his condition by administering vital medication into a vein.
Oliver Bere said: “Once we managed to get Adam more stable and on to the ambulance, we invited his daughters to see their father in a much more improved state to say goodbye before he was taken to hospital.
“We did this to help provide Grace and Maisie with reassurance that their dad had gained consciousness and was able to talk.”
While Adam says what happened to him was “an isolated stand-alone incident”, he adds that it acted as “a wake-up call” to try and get more sleep and rest where possible – stress is considered a factor for what happened to Adam.
Adam explains: “I’m really proud of Grace and Maisie for what they did.
“While I feel guilty for putting them through this ordeal, it’s reassuring they would know what to do if faced with an emergency situation again.”
Maisie and Grace’s advice to other children who find themselves witnessing an emergency is to: “check the person is breathing, stay calm, and call 999 for help.”