There are two kinds of people in this world, I've come to believe: The kind who stay calm in an emergency, and the kind who panic and fall to pieces and make whatever the emergency happens to be even more of a bummer. And apparently age has nothing to do with which category a person falls into, as 4-year-old Grace Varley of Amityville, New York, recently proved.
Because when Grace's 2-year-old brother Myles nearly choked on a chicken nugget, it wasn't their grandmother who saved the day. Nope. See, "Nana" falls into that useless-in-an-emergency category. So when Myles started choking and couldn't breathe, she freaked out, picked him up, and ran outside, screaming for help, much like a (choking hazard) chicken with her head cut off.
Good think Grace kept her wits about her, at least ...
Remembering a recent safety lesson from her prekindergarten class, the cool little cucumber simply picked up the phone and dialed 911.
"My brother's not moving," she told dispatchers (who later commented on the little girl's remarkable composure).
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Well, Myles is moving now!
Thanks to his quick-thinking sister and the paramedics who sped to the scene, Myles is just fine. (Not-so-much thanks to grandma, sorry to say.)
As for Grace? "I'm a hero," she informed reporters. Indeed!
Won't it be incredible to see what this little girl does in life? Think about it: If you take on the role of "hero" at 4 years old, you're probably going to set some pretty lofty goals for yourself. Said mom Alison:
“Grace surprises us constantly. She’s far better than I could ever be, and that’s all you ever really hope for your children.”
Or your grandchildren. Right, Nana?
Do you have someone in your family who's useless in emergencies?
Image via Jenny Downing/Flickr
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Comments 16
I always said the one class I would take advantage of at the hospital is how to save a choking baby. This should have been a simple thing that grandma could have done in on her own. Yay for the hero
awesome
It is so hard to predict how you will act in an emergency! The stress is so high and so sudden, and panic is by definition something that you can't exactly control. I'm so glad this little girl was there to help.
Thank God for this sweet little girl!
I have to day that my sister and I have always been a bit accident prone,she is way worse than i am!. But my mom is not good in an emergency at all, similar to the granny in this story my mom just freaks. (Christmas tree caught on fire (too close to the fireplace and it was knocked over) my mom throws the box of icicles on it, you know the tree decorations not real ones) Fire got bigger. My sister getting a third degree burn on hand from putting it down on the electric burner - she didn't know it had just been on- mom running outside screaming Ash's hand was melting off - really scared my sister who was 9 or 10 at the time. things like that. Some people really aren't good at keeping a cool head in an emergency.
I agree, you can not predict how you will react. I once helped a choking baby who's mom just started crying, but who knows what I would have done if it was mine. I just hope there is someone near that reacts better than me.
wow! I am sure I would help a choking baby ... but you can never predict
my sister is a mess in emergencies. She just breaks down into tears. I however am the "fix it now, break down later" type. I have been in a lot of emergency situations (lots of siblings. lol) and I handle the situation as best i can and then usually break down hours later when the stress finally takes over my emotions. I can't believe this 4 year old had the composure to call 911 when grandma didn't. That is incredible
My mom is a nurse and totally cool in the face of actual emergencies that she can control, but when she can't do anything, she kind of freaks out. We were driving up a mountain with a lot of steep switchbacks in a lightning storm once, and she kept screaming at the top of her lungs. My very young sister had burrowed her head into my side and was sobbing hysterically. I don't know how Dad didn't drive off the road from it.
Many years later, she and my sister were on a plane that hit turbulence. They went straight down for about three seconds and sis asks, "What's happening?" Mom screams, "We're going to die!"
Thankfully Mom only loses it in situations we can all laugh about later.