Beds FRS: 4 Year Old Girl Helps Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to Save Mother

Thank you to Lacie-Mai!

 On 3 February 2022, crews from Leighton Buzzard Fire Station were called to a house in in Leighton Buzzard, described as a ‘lock-in’, with a 4 year old in the property.

On arrival we were met with the paramedics and the 4 year old’s grandmother. The young girls’ mother suffers with diabetes and her Mum comes round daily to check on her. On this occasion she had become concerned for her daughter’s health and had phoned 999 for help.

 Firefighters spoke to 4 year old Lacie-Mai through the letterbox and she explained that ‘mummy was asleep’. Despite much encouragement she couldn’t find they keys to put through the letterbox, nor open the front door. Firefighters worked quickly to force entry into the property using specialist equipment. Whilst this was going on, Lacie was asked if she could go upstairs to her Mum’s bedroom. With a ladder up to the window, the Firefighters could see her Mum laid on the bed. With Watch Commander Burton instruction, Lacie went to give her Mum a cuddle, which got a response of an arm movement in reply. This was fed back to the paramedics – which was a good sign and lessened the urgency of our entry.

Whilst the crew continued downstairs, Lacie was asked to see if she could get up and open the window of the bedroom. With plenty of encouragement she managed to drag a chair over to the window (no mean feat for a tiny person!) and climbed up. Very carefully, she moved all of the ornaments and pictures and with clear instructions she tried many times to open the window. Unfortunately due to the design of the window, even releasing the catch wouldn’t open it.

 After noticing that another window was designed differently, she was asked her to try that. ‘That’s my bedroom!’ she replied. Lacie then managed, with incredible effort, to open a window and allow the firefighters entry to the property.

  The paramedics treated her Mum, and within 15-20 minutes she was sitting up and talking and on the road to recovery. Lacie stayed with her Mum and Watch Commander Burton throughout and was very grateful, politely thanking all the paramedics and firefighters who had helped her Mum.

Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service wants to thank Lacie-Mai for her bravery and confidence in helping our crews and paramedics to gain entry to the property and help her Mum, Perri. We wish them all the best.

 Pictured: Lacie-Mai Town, Age 4, and Chief Fire Officer Andrew Hopkinson