Queenscliff student wins triple zero junior award

A TEN-YEAR-OLD Queenscliff resident has received a statewide hero award for her incredible handling of an emergency situation at her family home.

Maddison Lock was rewarded with an Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (ESTA) Triple Zero Junior Hero award at the MCG in Melbourne last month for helping save her mother’s life in April.

When Melissa Evans (her mother) complained of severe body pains and begun bleeding, Maddison was able to call 000 and remain calm to follow instructions laid out by the emergency service call taker.

She was able to provide details of the emergency, care for her mother with first aid and assist the ambulance officers in accessing the family home.

The ten-year-old also assured her scared younger brothers and called family members who could come and take care of them while their mother was being transported to hospital.

Maddison said she was very excited to receive the award and to see her mother feeling better.

“It was absolutely amazing to get the award and to meet all the other great triple zero callers.

“I had so much fun, and I even got to meet my call-taker Nathan who actually nominated me for the award.

“We had lunch together and he was really nice. He said he was super proud of me.

“I was really glad I could help Mum and knew all the steps.”

Ms Evans said Nathan was “amazing” with Maddie and said he was “proud she could do something some adults can’t even do”.

“She handled it just amazingly and made sure everyone was taken care of.

“I was just amazed with how she went about it. Being a single mother with three kids and going through breast cancer, to know my nine-year-old at the time was able to step up and not panic, was very impressive.”

Maddison said playing out scenarios with her mother and siblings had played an integral part in knowing what actions to take.

“Mum has taught us what to do if something bad happens.

“We learnt to do it for her, and we did plenty of practices where we would pretend the phone was on triple zero.

“It was really fun to learn how to take care of mum and call the number just in case something really bad happened.”

Ms Evans said it was very important to teach children how to deal with situations of this nature.

“It’s incredibly important they know there’s no fear of calling triple zero and can remain calm and confident.

“To go through scenarios is really beneficial, whether it’s to call for an ambulance, a fire or police.”