Two sisters have been praised for their quick actions which saved the life of their diabetic mother.
Claire Dews from Leeds, who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2001, nearly fell into a deadly diabetic coma following a drop in blood sugar levels. The Yorkshire Evening Post reports that Claire was sleeping at home when she suffered a hypoglycemic attack, or nocturnal hypoglycemia.
Her daughters, 11-year-old Becky and 9-year-old Beth, went to her room after hearing her crying and quickly realised something was wrong. They dialled 999 and were told to do everything they could to stop their mum losing full consciousness while they waited for paramedics.
“They carried out the right actions to get help for their mum, didn’t panic and kept reassuring her as directed by our telephone adviser,” explained David Williams, deputy director of operations at Yorkshire Ambulance Service.
When the ambulance crew arrived at their homen, the girls’ actions meant that they could concentrate on getting Claire’s blood glucose level back to normal. They then took her to St James’s Hospital, but after tests showed no damage had been done she was quickly allowed to return home to her daughters.
Claire said: “I’m extremely proud of the girls – and very grateful as well. It would have been easy for them to panic but thankfully they stayed calm – or so I’m told, the first I knew about all this was when I woke up after the ambulance arrived.
“The paramedics did a fantastic job as well, they were great.”

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