Isabella, 5, dials 999 after finding mum collapsed
AGIRL of five has been hailed a hero for dialling 999 in the middle of the night after finding her mum unconscious on the kitchen floor.
Isabella Hibbert, who was only four at the time, managed to find and unlock her mum Chelsea’s mobile phone before ringing for an ambulance.
The youngster was then able to give the call handler her address so they could send help, and clearly answered questions asked by the handler, such as ‘is your mummy breathing,’ and ‘is your mummy awake.’
She then dragged her little chair from the living room to the front door, so she could reach the keys to open it for the paramedics, before ringing her nana again on Chelsea’s phone – to tell her what had happened.
Chelsea, 27, from Shaw, was taken to hospital and has recovered from her ordeal but is still undergoing tests to find out what caused her to collapse.
She said: “I don’t remember much, all I remember is waking up on the kitchen floor surrounded by paramedics. I had been poorly during the day, I hadn’t felt well, but it was nothing major.
“Isabella had been sleeping with me, and I must have gotten up and gone downstairs for a drink. She must have noticed I wasn’t there and followed me down and found me on the floor.”
Clare Cattermole, the medical emergency dispatcher who took Isabella’s call in August, described the schoolgirl as ‘amazing.’ It was the first time she had ever taken a call from a young child, but said she answered her questions ‘better than most adults.’
She said: “You don’t expect to hear a young person’s voice on the phone. I’ve had a few child callers before, but a parent will always take over the call.
“But when Isabella told me her mummy wasn’t awake, I knew that wasn’t going to happen this time.
“There are certain questions that we have to ask, and you have to make sure you bring them down to her age so she can follow. She engaged really well, she was amazing and is a real credit to her mum. She answered every question, better than most adults to be honest.”
Clare, based at the North West Ambulance Service’s Liverpool call centre, explained that sometimes when a call comes through it can give you an idea of where the caller is. But this wasn’t the case with Chelsea’s phone, and Clare had no information as to where Isabella was.
Had the little girl not known her address – which Chelsea says is down to a family joke they have with her auntie – then it could have taken a long time to trace the call and send help.
Isabella, who is in reception at East Crompton St James Primary School in Shaw, and Chelsea were reunited with Clare at NWAS’ Manchester call centre.
They were given a tour before Isabella was presented with an Infant Life Saver award for her heroic actions.
Chelsea, who works for GTD (GotoDoc), says she had never had a conversation with her daughter about what to do in an emergency, but says she loves watching ambulance programmes and believes she must have picked it up from there, or by listening to her talking about her work.
“I’m so proud of her,” she added. “I just don’t think she realises how big what she did was.”