7-year old who raised alarm for her Mum meets paramedics

Seven-year old Ariyah, who raised the alarm when her mother became hypoglycaemic with diabetes, has been presented with a certificate to recognise her bravery when she met the ambulance crew again at Kempston Ambulance Station.

Her Mum, Priya Rainbank, who lives in Bedford, said the incident happened earlier this year. She has type I diabetes and depends on an insulin pump to manage her condition day-to-day.

Her insulin pump relies on sensors she wears to help control her blood sugar and manage the insulin in her body, but over Christmas when the postal system was affected by industrial action, her supply was disrupted and she was unable to replace the sensors.

Ariyah meets EEAST Emergency Medical Technicians Catherine Pedley and Peter Newsom at our station at Kempston.

She felt OK however, and while her partner was out at the gym, she began putting her three children Ariyah (7), Zayn (5) and Haris (21 months) to bed.

“I felt tired, but OK and must have literally shut my eyes for a moment,” she said. “Ariyah noticed that I wasn’t telling them to get back into bed and go to sleep, like I usually would, and thought that something was wrong.

She FaceTimed her grandparents and her auntie Alisha and showed them me unconscious, then when I started having a seizure, Alisha called 999."

Ariyah let the ambulance crew in when they arrived, and the crew were quickly able to stabilise Priya’s condition with glucose treatment. 

Priya said that Ariyah’s quick thinking had got her help she needed and prevented the situation getting worse. “She kept herself calm so that her brothers would also be calm.

We all live with my condition as a family, and I am so super-proud of Ariyah. She’s a very brave little girl."

This isn’t the first time Ariyah has had to step in to get help for her mother. When she was aged just five, she had to ask neighbours to call 999 when Priya had a previous hypoglycaemic episode.

Emergency Medical Technician Catherine Pedley said: “It was a delight to present Ariyah with an award for her bravery and show around the station.

It’s important that everyone knows what to do when faced with a medical emergency. Ariyah’s actions ensured her mum got the treatment she needed promptly.

Recognising her mum was unresponsive, Ariyah raised the alarm. It must have been an upsetting experience but once we arrived, Ariyah was able to explain calmly exactly what had happened.”