Child of Courage nominee – Mia Hughes
Child of Courage nominee – Mia Hughes
When Toni Wedgwood went into anaphylactic shock after being stung by a bee her 11-year-old daughter, Mia Hughes, literally saved her life.
The Waterhayes schoolgirl recognised what had happened, raced to get an EpiPen, injected her mum and found an adult to call an ambulance.
Primary school teacher Toni, aged 30, was administered six rounds of adrenaline, needed to be resuscitated and ended up in intensive care.
Doctors have said Toni would have died without her daughter’s quick intervention and that Mia, a pupil at St Chad’s Primary in Red Street, would make an excellent doctor one day.
Three weeks later Toni is back at work at Burnwood Community School in Chell Heath, carries an EpiPen wherever she goes and feels incredibly lucky.
She said: “Without a doubt, without Mia I wouldn’t be here. The doctors told me that without her I would have died.
“I didn’t realise I’d been stung. I thought I was out of breath because I was really unfit. It was Mia who spotted the bee on my leggings. She saved my life.
“I’m so incredibly proud of her. I know she would have done exactly the same thing for anyone else. She does a swimming lifesaving class and when I told then what had happened they weren’t surprised.”
The incident happened during the short walk home from Toni’s mum’s house.
She recalls: “We were about two or three minutes from home when I started to feel unwell but wasn’t really sure why.
“I went to cross the road but Mia pulled me back and told me my lips were turning blue. I couldn’t breathe to answer her.
“She saw a bee had stung me through my leggings, flicked the bee off me and told me I’d been stung. I knew I’d react to a wasp sting but I’d never been stung by a bee before.
“Mia ran from where I was to our house, got an EpiPen and alerted my partner. Mia injected me and my partner rang for the ambulance.”
Mia’s school recognised her actions in an assembly and told classmates that she has attributes they should all aspire to.
On July 28 Mia will take part in the Stoke-on-Trent Pretty Muddy Kids 2024 in aid of Cancer Research UK. She has already raised £70.
Now Toni has nominated Mia in the Child of Courage category of the Your Heroes Awards.
She added: “She’s a remarkable girl. She’s so kind and wants to help everyone.”