A SEVEN-year-old girl has been praised for saving her mum’s life by talking to emergency services as her mum had a severe asthma attack behind the wheel on a dual carriageway.

Katherine Holifield and daughter Isla Holifield were driving on the A449 in Monmouthshire when Katherine Holifield – who has brittle asthma – began struggling to breathe.

The 37-year-old pulled into a layby and called 999, but physically unable to speak through heavy wheezing, the call handler could not locate the pair.

The Welsh Ambulance Service used the what3words technology to pinpoint their exact location and organise help. what3words is an app which helps the emergency services to find people in remote locations

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Katherine Holifield, from Cardiff, said: “We’d spent the day kayaking in Monmouth with friends.

“I felt a bit tight-chested when we got off the water but just put it down to the fact we’d been doing quite a bit of strenuous activity.

“We’d started to make the journey home but I wasn’t getting any better.

“Recognising it was an asthma attack, I pulled into a layby and got my nebuliser out to try and help.

“In the end, I couldn’t speak at all, and Isla said: ‘Mummy, is this when I need to call 999?’”

In this extraordinary 999 call, Katherine tried to summon help but was physically unable to tell the ambulance service where they were.

As Katherine Holifield’s condition deteriorated, quick-thinking Isla took over the call.

 

The mum said: “Isla was so calm and concise when she was giving information to the call handler.

“She was upset but she was just on a mission with it.

“She did all of this with our Jack Russell, Roly, in the car too.”

Newly-qualified paramedics Harriett Thomas and Will Jones came to Katherine’s aid, pulling into the layby behind her vehicle.

Harriett Thomas said: “As well as trying to treat Katherine, we also had Isla and Roly in the mix.

“Although Isla had a tear in her eye, she was so calm and collected.

“She was a little superstar.”

Katherine Holifield was taken to the Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.

Discharged that evening, she is now recovering at home after the attack on August 12.

She said: “I can’t thank the ambulance service enough for what they did that day.

“They didn’t just see me as the patient – they treated Isla like a patient too, making sure she was cared for at all times.”