QUICK-THINKING sisters have been praised by adventurer Bear Grylls after saving their mum’s life twice within two weeks.
When Nicola Wakeham was stung by a wasp in the kitchen of her family home at Newbold near Shipston last summer, her daughters Poppy and Jasmine – aged nine and 11 at the time – wasted no time administering a shot of life saving adrenaline and calling an ambulance.
The 46 year-old suffers from anaphylaxia, meaning she is severely allergic to bee and wasp stings as well as wheat, nuts, millet and rye, and has to carry an epipen with her at all times.
Her husband Adrian and their two daughters are all medically trained to use the epipens but this was the first time the youngsters had been forced to put their training into practice.
And just two weeks later, Nicola was stung again when she, Jasmine and Poppy were on holiday in Wales.
The girls’ quick-thinking again saved their mum’s life by ensuring she had her steroids and antihistamines. The pair injected
Nicola with 12 epipens to bring her back to life while they waited for the paramedics to arrive.
Nicola told The Observer: “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Poppy and Jasmine. They did amazingly well and I am very grateful for them.
“Being trained how to use an epipen and having to use it in real life are very different.
“Jasmine has Asperger’s and is very factual about what happens and how to deal with it whereas Poppy is very protective of me – she’s scared by bees and wasps herself and obviously wary of them coming near me.
“They tell me they don’t know why there is fuss about them saving me, they just get on with life being young carers.
“They want to raise money for the Anaphylaxis Campaign and raise awareness about the condition.”
Now aged ten and 12 the sisters, who go to Shipston Primary and Shipston High schools respectively, are members of the Newbold Sea Scout Troop and received a Chief Scout’s Personal Award, signed by Bear Grylls.
The adventurer and television present wrote a letter to the pair, saying they should be rightly proud of saving their mum’s life.
Visit www.anaphylaxis.org.uk to find out more about anaphylaxia.
