A MOTHER has said she could not be prouder of her quick-thinking nine-year-old who saved her life.

The last thing Charlene Mills remembers about teatime on Thursday evening was making herself a drink, after which she began to feel queasy.

The next thing she knew, she was coming round having collapsed, and she was surrounded by paramedics who were hailing her daughter as a hero for her quick-thinking.

Charlene, a 28-year-old carer from Rodbourne, had just finished clearing away after dinner, while her nine-year-old daughter Sophia had gone to watch TV.

Her youngest – 14-month-old Ava-Mai –was in her playpen.

“I felt a bit dizzy so I thought I would make a cup of coffee and I can’t remember anything after that,” said Charlene.

“I was on the floor being sick, apparently.

“Sophia managed to grab my phone and call the emergency services and ask for the ambulance, and tell them exactly where we lived – including our postcode.

“She even told them where her dad worked.

“They told her to put me in the recovery position which she did because apparently I was choking on my own vomit.

“She then put the dog out in the garden ready for when the paramedics arrived whilst checking on her baby sister.

“And, as if that isn’t enough, she even went to get a neighbour after she had done all of this.”

The Brook Field Primary School pupil, who only recently turned nine, was praised by the paramedics for staying calm and thinking about what needed to be done to get help, in what must have been an incredibly scary situation for her at such a young age.

She was also presented with a certificate at school for her bravery, after they learned of what she had been through.

Charlene was taken to the Great Western Hospital by the paramedics, and is now back at home and on the mend after her ordeal - although doctors are still running tests to discover what caused her to collapse in the first place.

“I am so overwhelmed and so proud of her,” said Charlene.

“No matter how many times you drill things into their heads you wonder if it has gone in and you wonder what they would do in that situation – will they panic? Will they cry?

“Or will they remember what to do?

“For her to remember to do everything – even the smallest little things like putting the dog out for when the paramedics got here, and our postcode, it’s really amazing.

“She is an absolute star.

“She literally saved my life and I couldn’t be prouder of her if I tried.”