A six-year old has been praised for helping to prevent her diabetic father from falling into a potentially-fatal coma.
Lilly Fitzpatrick, from Birmingham, fed her father Dave some jelly babies to boost his glucose levels after quickly realising he was suffering a hypoglycaemic attack.
The 41-year-old was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was just 15 years old. A drop in blood sugar levels can cause hypoglycaemia, which if severe, can affect normal brain function and cause loss of consciousness. If not quickly treated, a severe hypoglycaemic episode (hypo) can cause sufferers to fall into a diabetic coma.
Dave suffered his latest hypo last week while at home with Lilly and her younger brother Jacob. After spotting that her father was in trouble, Lilly called the emergency services to inform them of what was happening.
Lilly’s mother Michelle Lewis, who was at work at the time of the attack, said that Lilly was taught at the age of three what to do in the event of her dad suffering a hypo and even has her own ‘life saver box filled with energy-boosting snacks.
“Lilly woke up and found her dad wandering around like a zombie. He fell back in a chair – so Lilly felt his head and realised he was hot and having an attack,” Ms Lewis explained.
“She ran to her One Direction ‘life saver’ box for her dad and got the jelly babies out and fed them to him and called the emergency services. She also got his glucogel – and administered it in his cheek, inside his mouth.
“The police arrived but by this time Dave’s sugar levels had risen. An ambulance and paramedic then turned up and checked him over.”
Ms Lewis added: “I’m beaming with pride, I’m so proud of her. If she hadn’t reacted – he would have slipped into a coma and he may have died within a couple of hours.”
