A five-year-old girl has been branded a 'true hero' after saving her mum's life.
Lily-Mae Lancaster called 111 after her mum Julie collapsed with respiratory problems and fell unconscious for more than an hour.
Plucky Lily-Mae sprang into action and managed to rouse her mum for long enough for her to speak to the 111 operator.
NHS Direct staff organised for an ambulance to rush to their Fenton, Staffordshire home, and medics later said that Julie would have suffered a fatal heart attack if Lily-Mae had not made the call.
The little girl's bravery was recognsied at her town's carnival on Saturday, where, dressed as a princess, she travelled in a Rolls Royce to officially open the event.
The stunned little girl told her local paper that she hadn't realised WHY she had been asked to open the proceedings as the Carnival Queen until her mum told her!
"It was very nice to be chosen to be the carnival queen. I didn't know why I was chosen, but mummy explained it to me," she said.
Proud mum Julie revealed how she had fallen ill after collecting Lily-Mae from a pal's party.
"I was talking away in the car on the way home, saying 'mummy must get some more medicine'.
She knew I was ill and was obviously concerned," she said.
"I had spoken to her about the NHS 111 number before. We arrived home and the next thing I knew I was coming round on the sofa with a phone in my hand. I could hear the operative talking to me. Lily later told me she had been shoving me and calling for me to try to wake me up, before she got the phone and dialled 111."
Julie added that it was 'horrible' to think she was unconscious for so long, leaving Lily alone as her partner Steven was away, and her 13-year-old son Danny was at his grandparents' house.
"She was obviously scared. Lily could have wandered outside, but fortunately she knew what to do."
She said the whole family was 'so incredibly proud of Lily-Mae'.
"If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here today. We are so lucky that she acted the way she did," she said.
Julie's doctors eventually discovered a blood clot in her heart, and she remained in hospital for a week after Lily-Mae's heroic call.
What a brave girl!