In heartbreaking 999 call 10-year-old Phoebe Gibbs tells operator "I don't want to lose my mum"

A quick-thinking schoolgirl knew exactly what she must do when she found her mum collapsed on the bathroom floor. In an emotional 999 call, 10-year-old Phoebe Gibbs can be heard telling the operator, "I don't want to lose my mum".

Phoebe leapt into action at the sight of her 41-year-old mum, Leanne, unconscious in the bathroom at their family home in Whetstone, Leicestershire. But instead of panicking like many youngster’s her age might do, the level-headed youngster kept her cool and remembered what her parents had taught her to do in an emergency.

Rushing to the phone she dialled 999 and calmly talked through her mother's symptoms with the operator until help could arrive. In the recording of the heartbreaking call she says: "I don't want to lose my mum, I love her so much."

Describing her mother’s symptoms, she said: "She was shouting for me and then suddenly I saw, she looked like she was dead. But luckily she is not dead, she is just hardly breathing. She's moving her eyes hardly, I think she might be unconscious.

"She's moving her head, she's moving her hands, she's breathing. I can see her moving. Her belly is moving weirdly though. Like it's going in and out and it's really weird. I don't want to lose my mum. Her eyes keep opening and closing every time I touch her. She's holding my hand."

When asked if Leanne is still awake, she replies: "I don't know, mummy squeeze my hand."

Paramedic Samuel Brewin and technician Joe Carey arrived at the scene and were met by Phoebe waiting outside for them. She led the crew to her mum, who was showing signs of serious infection, including low blood pressure and a high temperature.

Leanne was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary where, after several months, a bout of pneumonia, antibiotics and many trips back and forth to the hospital, she has finally recovered.

Phoebe was presented with a bravery award by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) at a school assembly on Friday (October 18).

Phoebe said: "Mummy was pale with her eyes fixed wide open and she looked like she wasn't breathing. I put my hand on her chest and my ear to her chest to check. I then rushed to get the phone and called 999.”

Offering advice to other children, she added: "Always go with that little voice inside of you and go with what you believe in your heart. If something's not right, then ring 999 straight away. Go with your instincts, it will save lives.”

Leanne, who that morning had been feeling unwell, calls Phoebe her ‘earth angel’ and credits her daughter for saving her life that day on August 3 last year. Leanne said: “I remember waking up on that Thursday morning not feeling very well and knowing something wasn’t right.

"I was very dizzy, weak and had pains in my stomach. Next thing I knew, I was waking up on the bathroom floor with Phoebe and the ambulance crew by my side.

“Myself and my husband Andy have always tried to teach Phoebe from a very young age about an emergency, calling 999, knowing her address and all birth dates too. We feel that it is extremely important to keep talking to your children, to go through certain scenarios and what to do.

“Phoebe has always been such a caring, happy, empathetic child with such a loving soul. She is a very special little girl. I can’t thank everyone enough who helped that day, from the call handler who took Phoebe’s call, to the crew who helped me. I don't know what I would have done without them.”

Joe, who nominated Phoebe for a bravery award, said: “Phoebe was very helpful and calmer than most adults we attend in similar circumstances. She was waiting for us outside when we arrived and led us straight up to her mum in the bathroom.

“Despite being very upset, she was able to tell us exactly what had happened and she even had the presence of mind to lock the dogs away before we arrived."