An 'amazing' young girl has received an award from East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) for bravery after coming to her dad's rescue when he suffered an epileptic seizure. Twelve-year-old Lily-Alice Foster, from Kirkby-in-Ashfield, discovered her dad, 34-year-old Lawrance, unconscious and fitting on the sofa at her grandparent’s house at 4.15pm on December 9 last year.
Despite being the only other person in the house and faced with a distressing situation, Lily-Alice remained calm, putting her dad in the recovery position and quickly calling 999. "I remember he went on the sofa, he had a pillow over his face and he fell, so I dialled 999 and told them what was happening," she recalled.
"I didn't really know what was happening." Lily's emergency call was answered by call taker Christopher Turk, who helped her look after Lawrance before an ambulance crew arrived.
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Mr Turk, who deals with around 60 to 70 calls a day, said the call stood out. "I can remember it quite vividly," he said.
"Until she told me I didn't realise how young she was, she was very calm and mature throughout the whole situation. She did amazingly why, and that's ultimately why I nominated her."
Lawrance had been recovering from a previous head injury he sustained in November 2021, which resulted in him being in a coma for a few months and having a metal plate fitted inside his head. It was around a month after being discharged from the hospital that he began having seizures.
“Lily was stopping with me on that day at my parent’s house and it was after my parents went out that I started to feel the symptoms," he recalled. “My mouth and throat started to feel furry, and I was also experiencing pain in these regions of my body, followed by spasms in my arms and legs.
“That is when I went to lie down on the sofa as I knew what was about to happen. I was devastated that Lily was on her own with me at the time as she had never witnessed me have a seizure before that day, but I am so proud of her at the same time for how she handled the situation.”
Speaking after her daughter was given the Laverick award at Ashfield School on Wednesday, March 29, mum Nicola Channer said: "People can go through a lifetime without having to deal with something like that so going through it as a 12-year-old is a massive thing.
"The fact she managed to get him in the recovery position and things like that just blew my mind. I don't know how I'd deal with that situation even at the age I'm at now."
On the day, the 34-year-old received a text from Lily asking what her dad's address was. "Straight away I knew he was having a seizure," she said. "I jumped in a car to get there but it took 40 minutes due to school traffic and things like that. She's very mature, she's got her head screwed on well, because of what we've been through in the last year and a half."
First to arrive on scene were ambulance technicians Michael Riviere and Neil Butler, followed by fast response paramedic, Laura Hurst. The Laverick Award, which recognises children and young adults who have gone above and beyond to help another, is in memory of Nick Laverick – a paramedic team leader who died of cancer on his birthday in September 2013.
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