Parker’s coolness helps free his sister
A 10-year-old Timaru boy is being praised for the way he handled an emergency situation which saw his mum and step-dad desperately trying to rescue his sister who got her head stuck in a chair.
Alesia Cahill said the drama unfolded as the family of four was watching television on Saturday evening.
Her son Parker Vaughan, 10, was sitting on a reclined La-Z-Boy chair when his sister Addison Cahill, 21 months, crawled under the chair after the family cat.
Parker had not noticed her and leant forward on the chair, wedging the toddler’s head between the footrest and bars under the seat, she said.
The cat wandered out, but both parents Alesia and Craig Cahill tried in vain for five minutes to free their screaming daughter.
‘‘We couldn’t get her out and we didn’t know the damage [to her] as we couldn’t see her head,’’ she said.
As her daughter became more stressed by her predicament, Alesia dialled 111.
With the situation appearing to escalate, she said she panicked and was unable to explain the situation to the operator.
It was then that Parker – a pupil at Gleniti Primary School – took over.
Cahill said her son calmly took the phone from her and spoke to the operator answering their questions appropriately and accurately. Meanwhile, his step-dad Craig was speaking calmly to Addison as he continued to try to free her.
Parker said he was scared at first but once he gathered his thoughts he took the phone to a quiet area to respond to questions from the emergency operator.
‘‘I just wanted to cry but I couldn’t because mum was panicking so much I needed to be calm. I kept listening to my stepdad, he was telling me what he needed me to do and I just wanted Addi to get out,’’ he said.
After about 15 minutes, he managed to free a bruised and distraught Addison – just as emergency services crews arrived at the door.
‘‘The firemen checked her over and other than a badly bruised face and head she was fine,’’ Alesia Cahill said. She said she is very proud of Parker and the way he handled himself in such a traumatic situation.
‘‘We lived in Christchurch for five years after the earthquakes and we always made sure to educate him on what is safe and to know his address and certain other addresses and our phone numbers and emergency numbers in case he ever needed them,’’ she said.