A SEVEN-year-old girl has been hailed a lifesaver after ringing 999 when her mother collapsed at home during the summer holidays.

Freya McGinty went to the aid of her mum, Michelle, who collapsed on August 23 on the bathroom floor after suffering from a viral infection she picked up while on holiday in Turkey.

Paramedic Howard Woolfenden said: “Not only did Freya ring 999, she also looked after her mum, rang her dad and then looked after her sister all by herself, without anyone telling her what to do. She undoubtedly helped to save her mum’s life.”

Mrs McGinty told her daughter she knew she was going to collapse and asked her to ring 999.

The Greenhill Primary School pupil was with her four-year-old sister, Imogen, at their home in Greenhill Road and dad Colin was at work in Rochdale.

Freya called for the ambulance just before 9am and she calmly spoke to the operator and explained the problem.

She then called her dad, looked after her sister, who was very upset, and found the house keys to let the paramedics into the house.

Freya, who counts swimming and reading books such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Horrid Henry among her interests outside of school, says despite her cool manner, she was worried at the time.

“I was a bit scared when it happened, but I am proud of what I did to help my mum,” she said.

An ambulance was on the scene in 10 minutes and paramedics then helped to revive Mrs McGinty, who was unconscious. She was taken to Fairfield Hospital for checks and has since made a full recovery.

Freya has now been honoured at a special awards ceremony, which took place at her school last Friday.

The two ambulance staff who were called to the house — Mr Woolfenden and emergency medical technician John Prystay — made a surprise appearance to present Freya with a Junior Lifesaver Award.

Mr Prystay paid tribute to Freya for her response and said she bucked the trend when it came to dealing with young children in a similar position.

He said: Young children are usually in bits in that situation, but when we turned up she was calm and just said ‘my mummy is upstairs’.” Mrs McGinty, aged 39, who had been taking medication for her infection before her collapse, paid tribute to her quick-thinking daughter.

She said: “While we were on holiday there were a number of people who had gone down with the infection who had gone to hospital.

“I still had it when I got back. I knew I was going to collapse, so I said to my daughter: ‘Ring the ambulance.”

“The next thing I remember was coming round when the ambulance was here. I am so proud of her.”