DALTON TOWNSHIP — She's only 8, but Kyra Foster behaved liked a seasoned paramedic when she helped resuscitate her little sister after an accident in the bathtub, said Dalton Township Fire Chief Alan Styles.

Kyra, a third-grader at Oakview Elementary in Muskegon, performed CPR last month after her sister, Kylee, 4, swallowed water while taking a bath at her grandmother's home — an action authorities say helped save Kylee's life.

“To have a young child be able to react quickly and do the right thing, it just proves if we do community-based education and CPR then we make these situations a lot better,” said Styles, who responded to Kyra's grandmother's emergency call for help.

Kylee was brought to Mercy Health Partners' Hackley Campus and released that night.

Styles and other officials were so proud of Kyra, they're going to honor her quick thinking with a certificate at 7 p.m. Monday at the township's board meeting, 1616 Riley Thompson.

Despite the attention from her family and friends — one family friend gave her $20 — Kyra remains modest.

“I haven't thought about it much,” Kyra said.

Kyra's mother, Kenya Foster, has. She's surprised and relieved that Kyra remembered an explanation of how to perform CPR taught in school.

“I'm blessed to have an intelligent daughter, and I'm blessed the Lord was watching her,” said Kenya Foster, 28, of Muskegon.

She said the accident happened when Kyra and Kylee were taking a bath, and Kylee stood up in the tub, slipped on a toy and fell and hit her head on the tub.

After pulling her sister out of the tub, Kyra performed CPR, Kenya Foster said. Kylee spit up some water and regained consciousness.

“Some people would have panicked … but she did the right thing,” Styles said.

Email: bmcvicar@muskegonchronicle.com