A 6-year-old Mississippi girl has been honored for helping emergency responders find her family’s car after her mother suffered a stroke while driving in a rural area.
Bryanna Cook is a first-grader at Fairview Elementary School in Columbus, and Lowndes County supervisors have adopted a resolution to honor her bravery, the Commercial Dispatch reports.
Bryanna and her mother, Yolanda Cook, were on their way to see Bryanna’s grandmother in Preston on October 23 when Cook suffered a stroke while driving on Mississippi Highway 21 between Shuqulak and Macon.
After the car stopped in the woods, Cook became unresponsive and Bryanna grabbed her mother’s cell phone.
“I was scared, so I called my grandma, and my mom didn’t wake up,” Bryanna said Friday.
Her grandmother told her to call 911. Bryanna first spoke to a Noxubee County dispatcher, who connected her to Lowndes County dispatcher Latonya Malone.
Cook is shown with Latonya Malone (L), a 911 dispatcher for Lowndes County, Miss., on Wednesday, Nov. 15. 2023, in Columbus, Miss.AP
Bryanna then assisted Malone and first responders in Noxubee and Lowndes counties by describing her surroundings, how far the car was from the road and the condition of her mother, who was otherwise uninjured.
Malone said while he had Bryanna on the 911 line, he used his cell phone to talk to Bryanna’s grandmother.
“Bryanna was able to tell us where they went and grandma helped, too, because she told us where they were at the time” based on when they left the house, Malone said.
Over the next two hours, while first responders searched for the couple, Bryanna kept calling and following Malone’s directions.
Malone said while he had Bryanna on the 911 line, he used his cell phone to talk to Bryanna’s grandmother. Facebook/Fairview Elementary PTO
Bryanna said she opened the door to give her mother some fresh air and, “I knocked on her face to see if she would wake up, but she didn’t.”
Information from Bryanna and her grandmother eventually led first responders to the car, Malone said. Cook was taken to a Macon hospital before being taken to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo.
Bryanna stayed with her mother at the hospital until Cook was released on Oct. 31.
“His teachers and the school principal were all very supportive,” Cook said.
“I helped my mom because I saved her,” Bryanna added. “At the hospital, I helped him out of bed and walked with him down the hall because I love him.”
When the county supervisor honored Bryanna, Malone met her in person.
Fairview Principal Monte Ewing-Johnson said Bryanna exemplifies the values the faculty tries to instill in students.
“The level of joy in my heart when I learned about Bryanna’s heroism is immeasurable,” he said. “Bryanna is kind, loving and patient with her classmates; So it’s not hard to believe that he was able to call 911 and wait while he and his mother were rescued.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
