RUSK, Texas — A 3-year-old East Texas girl was honored on Tuesday for staying calm when her mother had a seizure. The child FaceTimed her grandparents in Georgia, who called 911. Then the toddler spoke with the 911 dispatcher and guided first responders to her apartment.
UT Health East Texas praised Noemi “Emi” Vatavuk, of Rusk, for keeping her poise and managing to unlock the door so paramedics could treat her mother, Aiden Wilkie, KYTX reported.
Noemi called her grandparents, who live near Atlanta. They contacted emergency dispatchers and, with Noemi’s help, guided UT Health East Texas EMS crews to the family’s apartment in Rusk, The Gilmer Mirror reported.
Wilkie, who was diagnosed with epilepsy as an infant, suffered a seizure earlier this year, according to the television station.
“I didn’t know what was happening, I couldn’t hear or see anything, so it was all up to her,” Wilkie told KYTX. “She rolled me over and called my mom. From what I understand from my mom, who was on the phone with her, she rolled me onto my side, rubbed my hair and talked to my mom on the phone.”
Throughout the emergency, Noemi’s grandmother, Ryan McLeod, stayed connected via FaceTime while Aiden’s father communicated with dispatchers, relaying information the child shared, the Mirror reported.
According to the 911 call, Noemi followed instructions well.
“That’s the people you want to come in and help mommy, OK?” the EMS dispatcher who took the call told the girl, according to KYTX.
“I helped mommy?” the child asked.
" Yes, you did. You did. You did a huge help for mommy,“ the dispatcher continued.
“I helped mommy,” Noemi said.
“Yes, you’re going to help get mommy better,” the dispatcher said.
“Your granddaughter is spectacular,” the dispatcher told McLeod.
“You are doing fantastic. Nani is so proud of you,” McLeod added during the 911 call, according to KYTX.
Because the door was locked, Noemi needed help opening it. That’s where Nani helped out.
“When dispatch said they were in close proximity, I told Emi we needed to get the chair so she could unlock the door,” McLeod told the newspaper. “She dragged that chair all the way from the dining room to the front door and opened it. Because dispatch was having a hard time finding the apartment, I told her to yell, and she did it like a champ.
“This kid is resilient beyond anything I ever expected. I was so proud of her. There are no words.”
Once she unlocked the door, Noemi went outside with her cat, Nemo, and waited for first responders to arrive, the Mirror reported.
Caleb Rideway, a paramedic with UT Health East Texas, said that Noemi was ready for first responders to arrive.
“When we first got there and she was waving and everything, screaming for us to come out there and help her, she was very intelligent for her age,” Rideway told KETK, adding that the child helped out at the scene. “She was grabbing things. She was helping move things. She was asking all sorts of questions, too.”
Lisa Wingfield, the EMS system status controller who dispatched the call, said that because information had to be relayed through Noemi’s grandparents hundreds of miles away, she had to remain patient.
“I went into the mode of, ‘The calmer I am, the calmer everybody else is going to be,’” Wingfield told the Mirror. “I needed to make sure my voice sounded calm, even if I was bouncing around in my seat trying to get them help.
“After the call was over, I turned to my boss and said, ‘I need to take a break,’ and I went and cried because I was so happy they got help.”
Wilkie said that preparing Noemi about what to do when a seizure occurred paid dividends.
“At first, we kind of made it a game. We really showed like, ‘Paw Patrol,’ like in that moment,” Wilkie told KLTV. “The people that dress up and look like Chase, we really need to trust.”
During Tuesday’s ceremony, UT Health East Texas EMS CEO John Smith and UT Health East Texas EMS Medical Director Yagnesh Desai presented Noemi with a certificate of bravery and an EMS challenge coin, the Mirror reported. The ambulance crew that responded to her call, Ridgeway and EMT Tim Spurgeon, presented Noemi with a Build-A-Bear emotional support teddy bear.
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