My hero! Quick-thinking Telford girl, 8, saves her mum's life

Stacey McLoughlin says she could have died had it not been for the calm head of her young daughter.

Keira dialled 999 after Stacey, who suffers with pulmonary disease, collapsed.

The youngster managed to summon an ambulance and travelled with her mother to hospital, where Stacey spent a time on a life support machine.

The mother of two, who is now on the road to recovery, said: "I'm very proud of Keira. I think she's quite chuffed with herself after what she did as well."

Stacey suffers with pulmonary disease, a severe condition affecting the lungs, and when she suddenly found herself struggling for breath, her quick-thinking daughter jumped into action.

Stacey, who has recently moved to Randlay had started to struggle for breath when she was with Keira and her three-year-old son Kai McLoughlin outside their previous home in Bloxwich, Walsall.

"I explained to my daughter that she had to call an ambulance as quickly as she could," Stacey said. "I couldn't breathe."

"She ran into the house and I managed to get into the house with her.

"She took my phone and called for an ambulance.

"She was able to give them all the details they needed from memory and the ambulance got there very quickly.

"They came while she was still on the phone."

Stacey, together with her two children, was put in the ambulance and rushed to Walsall Manor Hospital for further treatment.

But she found her situation quickly taking a turn for the worse and had to be placed on a life support machine to assist with her breathing.

She said: "By the time the ambulance got there I was critical. I remember getting in the ambulance and really panicking.

"I couldn't breathe for myself and ended up on life support. I was on a ventilator for the first two days and I was in hospital for three days altogether before I could come out.

"I was told if it was minutes later, I would not have pulled through."

The mother-of-two was diagnosed with pulmonary disease in November last year and takes medication for her condition.

She said: "It means sometimes I can't breathe because it affects the lungs. I have had problems before.

"I'm very sore still but I'm recovering really fast.

"I'm very proud of Keira. I think she's quite chuffed with herself after what she did as well."

The youngster, who attends Lower Farm Primary School in Bloxwich, has even been made her very own bravery award by her grandmother, Sharon McLoughlin, to recognise her life-saving actions during the ordeal on April 16.

Sharon, 49, also of Randlay, said she was incredibly proud of her grandaughter's actions. and her bravery when faced with what was a very scary situation.

She said: "I'm chuffed to bits with her. She was so brave.

"It was quite scary really but Stacey has had problems with her health in the past.

"From the age of four she's been taught what she has to do in situations like this.

"She remembered my whole phone number and gave it to the paramedics so they could ring me. I'm just so proud of her."

Describing her actions on the day, Keira said: "Mum couldn't breathe and she told me to call an ambulance. They told me to stay on the phone until they came and then they arrived.

"Then we had to go to the hospital. I felt a bit shocked."

She said the bravery award given to her by her grandmother had made her feel special.

Keira added: "It's a certificate with yellow around the outside and it's got a little man on it.

"It's very special to me. I feel very proud of myself."