5-Year-Old Revere Girl Saves Grandmother's Life
REVERE (CBS) -- A little girl from Revere has plenty to be proud of, after making a life saving phone call to 911.
The perky little girl in the brightly flowered pajamas smiled broadly Tuesday evening as TV cameras swarmed outside her door. That grin got even bigger when 5-year-old Julia Vajao got a long hug from her favorite babysitter -- the very same grandma whose life she might well have saved just hours earlier.
"I wanted to make sure she was okay but I didn't know if she was," Julia says, "So I called 911."
WBZ-TV's Ken MacLeod reports.
It was just after lunch when Julia noticed her diabetic grandma slumped over and unresponsive.
"I hadn't been feeling well," offered Julia's grandmother upon returning from the hospital. "But I just couldn't have imagined that I'd simply pass out on the floor."
That's when her young granddaughter remembered the fireman who had visited her Kiddie Koop preschool last year.
"When a police officer asked her how she knew to call 911," said Fire Lieutenant James Caramello, "she said she remembered those instructions from a man who visited her school."
That man just happened to be Lieutenant Caramello.
There was a minute or two of confusion during Julia's call, when she referred to her grandma with the Portuguese term "Vovo" -- something the dispatcher wasn't familiar with. But rescuers were sent to the house on Newman Street soon enough, where they were greeted by a very composed Julia pointing them in the right direction.
"The little girl was amazing," recalled Lieutenant Tony Giampietro. "She was very calm and relaxed. She had a lot of answers for the questions we were asking. She did a great job."
"She gets a big "attagirl!" for that," added Lt. Caramello. "No doubt about it."
After a trip to Melrose-Wakefield Hospital to keep her out of diabetic shock, Marie Vajao was back at home recovering on Tuesday night.
"I'm amazed at how she handled it," says Vajao of her granddaughter. "She was wonderful. I'm very proud of her."
Little Julia even told rescuers where they could reach her mother. "I said 'My mother works at Stop & Shop.'"
"She's a smart kid, thank God!" says Julia's Mom, Elaine Vajao. "She's the hero and I'm proud of her. I'm just glad that my mother-in-law is okay."
Julia's 11-year-old brother, Jared, was also heaping praise on his little sister, promising a reward of $5.
