A four-year-old girl has received a bravery award for calling 999 when her heavily pregnant mother fell down the stairs.



Emma Bazzard made the 11-minute call after discovering her mother, Catherine Bazzard, unconscious at their home in Nailsea, Somerset. She answered a series of questions and was able to provide her mother’s name and their address on 12 November.

During the call, Emma – who was then only three years old – told call handler Sarah Morris that her mother had banged her head but was not bleeding. An ambulance crew arrived minutes later, and Emma even made sure the door was unlocked so they could enter.

“Mummy fall down the stairs,” she told Morris. “Mummy is asleep. Mummy’s head hurts. I’m giving her a cuddle.”

She could be heard telling her mother to stay still and asking where she is hurting, adding: “Mummy, the ambulance is coming.”

Bazzard, a pre-school teacher, had landed on her stomach and it is believed the impact started labour. Paramedics took her to hospital where she was given drugs needed to prevent her unborn baby boy arriving seven weeks early.

Bazzard safely gave birth to Emma’s brother George two and a half weeks ago. He was born prematurely, but this was not linked to the fall.

South Western ambulance service NHS foundation trust presented Emma with a bravery certificate at Nailsea ambulance station on Wednesday. She was also reunited with the ambulance crew and call handler.

“I do not recall a great deal about the incident, but by all accounts Emma was absolutely amazing and so knowledgeable and calm,” said Bazzard. “I think this highlights how important it is to teach your child how to call 999 because they are never too young to put what they’ve learned into practice. I couldn’t be more proud of Emma and am really pleased that the ambulance service is presenting her with a certificate.”

Emma had not been taught about dialling 999 but her brother, aged five, had been learning about the emergency services at school. Bazzard and her husband, Ben, a teacher, had discussed what to do in an emergency with him during a family meal.

Morris said: “When I first spoke to the little girl I knew that she was young, but was amazed to discover that she was only three,” she said. “The amount of detail she was able to provide was incredible; she answered every question I put to her more calmly than most adults under similar circumstances. It will be a pleasure to meet Emma and her family and the certificate is extremely well deserved.”

Alison Beresford was part of the crew that treated Bazzard, who suffered a ruptured placenta in the fall. “We are delighted to learn that both mum and baby are doing well,” she said. “If it wasn’t for Emma’s bravery the outcome of this incident might have been very different and we would like to personally thank her for being so brave.”