Bravery award for Ashfield schoolgirl who kept calm and called 999 as dad suffered seizure

Lily-Alice Foster, aged 12, discovered her dad, Lawrance, unconscious and fitting on the sofa at her grandparent’s house on December 9 last year, at about 4.15pm.

Despite being the only other person in the house and faced with a distressing situation, Lily-Alice, a pupil at Kirkby’s Ashfield School, remained calm and called 999.

“I was devastated that Lily was on her own at the time, as she had never witnessed me have a seizure before,” Lawrance, 34, said.

“But I am so proud of her at the same time for how she handled the situation.”

Lawrance had been recovering from a previous head injury he sustained in November 2021, which resulted in him being in a coma for a few months and having a metal plate fitted inside his head.

It was about a month after being discharged from the hospital that he began having seizures.

He said: “I usually get a warning sign when I’m about to experience a seizure.

“Lily was stopping with me on that day at my parents’ house and it was after mthey went out that I started to feel symptoms coming on. My mouth and throat started to feel furry and I was experiencing pain there, followed by spasms in my arms and legs.

“That is when I went to lie down, as I knew what was about to happen.”

Lily’s emergency call was answered by Christopher Turk, who said she did an excellent job handling such a frightening situation.

He said: “Lily was very upset at the start, but was brilliant throughout, doing an excellent job of managing the situation until the ambulance crew arrived.

“While she initially struggled to identify the address of the property, we worked together to locate where they were by asking Lily to look for any letters around the property with addresses on them.

“In the latter stages of the call, Lily was proactive in unlocking the doors to ensure the crew could enter the house straight away upon arrival.”

First on scene were East Midlands Ambulance Service technicians Michael Riviere and Neil Butler, followed by fast-response paramedic, Laura Hurst.

Christopher, Michael, Neil and Laura will be presenting Lily with a Laverick award at a ceremony at Ashfield School today, March 29.

The award, which recognises children and young adults who have gone above and beyond to help another, is named in memory of Nick Laverick, a paramedic team leader who died of cancer in September 2013.