The Contra Celsum S-Files

Seven Year Old Saves Two Lives

A young girl's calm, mature, quick-thinking has saved the life of her mother and her unborn sibling.  When her mother slipped into a sudden diabetic coma, Brooklyn Beazley:
-attempted to give her mother (lifesaving) sugar, but could not get the container open
-stayed calm
-called 111
-answered detailed questions from the operator
-performed diagnostic tests, as instructed by the operator
-didn't panic
-opened the door to the ambulance officers
-informed them her mother needed sugar
-saved two lives

St John Ambulance staff have given Brooklyn Beazley 10 out of 10 for her quick thinking after her mother, Sandee Mason, collapsed. Photo / Dean Purcell

A fuller description from the NZ Herald reads:

Sandee Mason, 25, has Type 1 diabetes. She fell into a coma at her Manurewa home on Tuesday just after 5pm.  She told the Herald she had just arrived home from an ultrasound on her 15-week pregnancy when she began to feel weak. Her partner, Joe Beazley, was at work. Ms Mason had put her 1-year-old son, Lincoln, down for a sleep, so she thought she'd have a quick nap.

"I had no energy, so I lay down on the couch and it all went downhill from there. Having insulin and not eating makes me have hypos [hypoglycemic episodes]. I start shutting down and I need sugar to bring me back.  "[Brooklyn] said I started shaking. I must have had a seizure. She tried to give me my sugars but she couldn't open it and I didn't have the energy to sit up and help her.  She called the ambulance and by then I was already unconscious."

Yesterday, Brooklyn said she had been learning about numbers and phones in school, and she knew to call 111 from watching television.  The operator asked her to shake her mum to wake her, which didn't work, she said.  "I shook her. The ambulance people said 'Is she breathing?' and I said, 'She's breathing too fast'."  Brooklyn, who goes to Rowandale School, said she wasn't scared as she fought in vain to open her mother's glucose syrup, or when the operator asked her lots of questions.  "I did that because I love my family. I've got a little brother and my mummy is having another baby. "I was just worried ... but I didn't cry." . . .

St John Counties-Manukau manager Steve Walker said Brooklyn almost certainly saved the lives of her mother and unborn sibling.  "There was a significant risk to the mother, because no sugar can cause brain damage and potentially lead to death. You won't wake up on your own ... "It's . . . 10 out of 10 for that kid. The fact she had the courage to do that is wonderful. The ability to answer questions under pressure is just a real credit to that young lady."

Brooklyn Beazley, 7 has been given a S-Award, Class I for salutary, smart actions which saved the life of her mother and her unborn sibling.