NEED TO KNOW
- A 7-year-old rushed to call for help after her dad fell down the stairs in their Lynwood, Ill. home on Wednesday
- The man was knocked unconscious, but his daughter stayed on the phone until paramedics arrived
- “I was brave,” the little girl told a local outlet
A dad is praising his 7-year-old daughter’s courage after she called 911 following his fall down the stairs at their Illinois home last week.
“She’s a smart girl and brave,” Xavier Bates, a 41-year-old railroad conductor, told ABC station WLS of his daughter, Mia.
On Wednesday, Jan. 14, they were at their house in Lynwood, Ill., outside Chicago, while Mia’s mom was at work. Xavier was coming downstairs when he tripped.
“I missed a foot or something and fell and hit my head,” he told WLS.
He smashed his head on the steps and fell to the floor unconscious.
When Mia saw her dad on the ground, she quickly called 911 and stayed on the phone with the dispatcher until paramedics arrived, WLS reported.
“It was, like, a little scary,” Mia said in a joint interview with her dad. Xavier credits her with saving his life — and the local community is taking notice.
The Village of Lynwood also praised Mia’s “quick thinking” in a statement on Saturday, Jan. 17.
“When her dad, Xavier, suffered a serious fall at home, Mia stayed calm under pressure, called 911, provided critical information to the dispatcher, and let paramedics into the house when they arrived,” local officials wrote. “Her actions made all the difference.”
But for the first grader, the most important thing was helping her dad.
“He needed to go to a hospital where he could get better. I’m glad the ambulance helped him,” Mia told WLS.
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She plans to attend the next city council meeting so she can meet the paramedics who provided aid to her dad.
As she told WLS: “I was brave.”
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