A 10-year-old from Gateshead has been awarded a bravery certificate by North East Ambulance Service 10-year-old Lucia Charlton from Gateshead has been recognised for her bravery by the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) team who attended her baby sister in October.
In the very early hours on Wednesday 19 October, NEAS took a call to 999 from Lucia who was nine at the time, calling with concerns about her two-year-old sister Blake. Blake is epileptic and was having a seizure.
NEAS dispatched paramedics Matthew Potts and Ian Lloyd and clinical care assistant Kev Taylor to the scene.
On arrival at the address, Matthew, based at Chester-le-Street ambulance station recalls, “Blake’s big sister Lucia stayed amazingly calm and called 999 before unlocking the doors and directing us quickly and calmly in from the street upstairs and to mam and baby so we could quickly assess and treat little Blake.
“Lucia's calmness and quick action ensured her little sister could be assessed and treated quickly before moving to the QE hospital. Her ability to remain calm and helpful through a stressful situation was remarkable and showed maturity beyond her age. She should be very proud of how she managed the situation and we wanted her to know how impressed we were by her. Meeting Lucia and her family again has been really special – we don’t often get to meet patients and families and it’s lovely to see them again to be able to recognise Lucia’s bravery.”
On receiving her award, Lucia said, “I was shocked when I found out, but it feels good. The staff were really nice when I had to call 999 and I’m happy I was able to help my sister when she needed it.”
Lucia’s mum Stephanie Wilde, added, “I’m so proud of Lucia. I had taught her how to do Blake’s rescue meds so she knew what to do but this was the first time she’d had to do it. It was amazing to see how well she reacted.
“I cried when we got the letter saying the ambulance service wanted to award Lucia for her bravery. The letter arrived on her birthday as well which was even more special.”