A young Girl Scout saved her father’s life using CPR — just days after learning it.
Vada Carawan, 11, sprung into action after seeing dad Clint Carawan having a heart attack on the floor of their home in Virginia just 11 days after she first practiced CPR on a dummy during a Girl Scout training session, WAVY reported.
“Of course, it was scary,” Vada recalled, saying her panic initially made her forget her new life-saving skill. “And I started tearing up and I was like, ‘What do I do?’ Like, for a minute there, I was in complete shock. And then I was like, ‘Heart attack … heart attack, 911,” she told the outlet about last month’s scare.
“Maggie, my dog, was freaking out,” said Vada. “She was trying to wake him up, like, put her paw on there, like trying to wake him up.”
Once she realized the graveness of the situation, Vada began doing chest compressions while on the phone with paramedics, who helped her revive her dad.
“It’s kind of hard to put into words because it was so scary,” Vada told the outlet. “I think I was a little weaker because it’s not the same doing it on a dummy because it’s not your dad,” she said, comparing the situation to her prior training with the Virginia Beach Girl Scouts.
“I was actually the only person in my whole class to successfully save our dummy because when you do CPR, the dummy has lights, and if it’s green, you’re doing it correctly,” Vada said to the outlet.
“Just put your mind to anything that you would want to do,” Vada explained. “I definitely don’t think you’re too young for anything,” she said.
Vada is now receiving acclaim from first responders and her mother, who credit her with saving her father’s life.
“She got to be his hero,” Amanda Carawan, Vada’s mom, told the outlet.
