3-Year-Old Texas Girl Honored for Helping Save Her Mom During a Medical Emergency

A 3-year-old girl in Rusk, Texas is being credited with helping save her mother's life after keeping her composure during a medical emergency, guiding first responders to the apartment where her mom lay incapacitated by a seizure.

Noemi "Emi" Vatavuk was home alone with her mother, Aiden Wilkie, when Wilkie had a seizure that left her unable to move or speak. With no other adult in the home, Emi called her grandparents on FaceTime — even though they live nearly 700 miles away in Georgia. Her grandparents were able to connect her to 911 from there.

Once on the line with a 911 dispatcher, Emi stayed calm enough to answer questions and, critically, managed to unlock the apartment door so paramedics could get inside and reach her mother. UT Health East Texas EMS, the agency that responded, praised her poise throughout the call.

EMS CEO John Smith and Medical Director Dr. Yagnesh Desai presented Emi with a certificate of bravery and an EMS challenge coin on September 8. Paramedic Caleb Ridgeway and EMT Tim Spurgeon, the two responders who treated her mother, also gave the toddler an emotional support Build-A-Bear teddy bear.