A heroic toddler from the Highlands helped save her unconscious and pregnant mother by finding a phone and calling for help.
Three-year-old Casey MacKenzie has been hailed a “wee star” by her grateful family after she managed to dial her father’s number to say: “Mummy’s asleep daddy and she won’t wake up”.
Grant MacKenzie, 26, got the alarming call after the youngster found her pregnant mother Isla Gillespie, 20, slumped unconscious at the family home near Fortrose.
She had fainted and been knocked out after banging her head on a coffee table.
The frightened youngster also managed to call Miss Gillespie’s sister and left a message on her phone as well.
Miss Gillespie is around 16 weeks pregnant and had been suffering dizzy spells because of low blood pressure and sugars.
Because of her daughter’s emergency call, her partner Mr MacKenzie was able to race back to the house and put her in the emergency position before an ambulance crew arrived.
Mr MacKenzie said: “I’d only been gone for a few minutes, I was down at the end of the road putting the bins out when I got a phone call and it was Casey.
“She’s managed to find her mother’s phone, find my number and call it.
“She said something like mummy is sleeping and she wouldn’t wake up.
“That obviously set alarm bells ringing and I got back up to the house as quickly as I could and called for an ambulance.
“They got here incredibly quickly and did a really great job.
“They managed to bring Isla round at the house before taking her off to Raigmore.
“I couldn’t commend them enough for what they did, I want to try and find their names so I can thank them properly.”
He was also full of praise for his daughter for her quick thinking.
He said: “She could have been lying there for much longer and that would have put her and the baby at risk. Casey was amazing.”
Miss Gillespie was kept in Raigmore overnight for observation before being discharged.
She suffered no lasting ill effect other than a sore head where she banged her head on a coffee table after fainting.
Miss Gillespie went to Mr MacKenzie’s mother Susan Kirkness in Poolewe to recuperate after the incident but has since returned home to the Black Isle.
She said she was “super proud” of her daughter.
Mrs Kirkness, who runs a bakery, was also full of praise for her granddaughter.
She said: “She’s always been our wee star but even more so after all of this.”
Mrs Kirkness was at a providing catering at an event when her panicked son phoned to tell her what was happening.
She said: “He didn’t know what to do so I told him just to put her in the recovery position until the ambulance got there.
“He told me that it was Casey who had phoned him.
“She’s always been quite clever with the phone, even from when she was little she was swiping away.
“Kids nowadays just seem to be able to work these things without thinking about it.
“People say about children being taught how to do these things too early but actually this kind of thing shows how it can help save someone.”
