A Virginia Girl Scout is being lauded as a hero. Vada Carawan leapt into action when her dad, Clint Carawan, suffered a heart attack back on Nov. 23, according to the family’s GoFundMe page.
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Clint felt ill all day leading up to the incident, including a pain in his left arm. Things escalated when he came out of the bathroom and collapsed.
Then, just 11 days after Vada’s Girl Scout troop learned CPR, the tween put the lesson into action in real life.
Vada, 11, told the local NBC affiliate that the situation was “scary,” and made even worse by her dog, Maggie, who was “freaking out.”
“She was trying to wake him up, like, put her paw on [him],” Vada said of the pup.
When the dog’s efforts didn’t suffice, Vada said she was “tearing up” and questioning what to do amid her “complete shock.”
Vada Performed Life-Saving CPR
After a deep breath, Vada realized she should call 911. When she was on the phone, the dispatcher asked if Vada knew CPR. The tween responded, “I just learned it.” She proceeded to give her dad chest compressions until paramedics arrived.
“It’s kind of hard to put into words because it was so scary,” Vada said. “I think I was a little weaker because it’s not the same doing it on a dummy because it’s not your dad.”
The paramedics were able to get Clint’s heart beating again, before they transported him to the hospital. Doctors put two stents in his heart, before airlifting him to a bigger hospital for continued medical care.
Clint is still hospitalized, but on the road to recovery.
“Just put your mind to anything that you would want to do,” Carawan advised others. “First, I was like, I don’t know if I can do CPR, but apparently I can.”
The family’s GoFundMe, which was set up to assist with the cost of medical bills, has raised just $725 of its $25,000 goal. In a post to the page, the organizer urged everyone to learn CPR.
“Vada proved that even the smallest hands can make the biggest difference,” the post read. “You never know when you’ll be called to act, and the skills you learn today could save a life tomorrow.”