By Micheal Chukwuebuka, Reporting
A 6-year-old has been honoured after she ran to get help when her mother collapsed at home while experiencing a seizure.
According to ABC News, Conover, North Carolina, Mayor Kyle J. Hayman, during a city council ceremony last Monday, recognized Feb. 5 as “Quinn Hill Day” and presented the first grader with a certificate.
“We were honoured to recognize her and her family at the Conover City Council meeting where we adopted Resolution 05-24 naming February 5, 2024 as ‘Quinn Hill Day’.
Conover City Council meeting
“This young lady had the wherewithal to recognize the emergency, take her younger brother by the hand, leave her home and seek help from neighbors she knew and trusted,” Hayman told a source in an emailed statement.
Quinn’s mother, Jennifer Hill, told Good Morning Africa (GMA) that on January 10, the last thing she recalled was that she was at home, preparing dinner for Quinn and her younger brother.
Quinn was presented with a certificate
She said her 6-year-old daughter later told her what had happened.
“Quinn told me that I actually sat down in the chair that I’m sitting in right now and I looked up at the ceiling and started breathing weird.
“She said that I then fell out of the chair onto my left side and my fists were clenched and my body was convulsing. My eyes were open and she kept saying, ‘Mommy, Mommy’, and I would not respond,” the 39-year-old said.
Quinn Hill and her family
Quinn told reporters that she was scared when she saw her mother convulsing.
When she noticed her mother was not responding to her, Quinn made the impromptu decision to take her brother, 3, and run outside and knock on their neighbors’ doors to get help.
“This is the first time that they’ve ever left our home without us.
“She even told us that she looked both ways before crossing the street,” the mother of three said.
Stonix News learnt that a neighbor returned with Quinn and her brother to their home and, after seeing their mother, called Hill’s husband and the children’s father, police Lt. Jason Hill, who dispatched emergency medical services to their home.
Jennifer Hill was taken to Catawba Valley Medical Center in Hickory, North Carolina, where doctors determined she had had a grand mal seizure, the first seizure she’d ever had.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a grand mal seizure is a type of seizure that affects both sides of the brain.
The cause of seizure may vary and can range from a traumatic brain injury or a central nervous system infection to a brain tumor or stroke.
Jennifer Hill said she’s beyond proud of how Quinn reacted on January 10:
“Proud is an understatement, honestly. She’s my angel. She’s my hero for what she did.”
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