Ten-year-old girl honoured with bravery award after saving her father's life
A TEN-YEAR-old girl has been honoured for her bravery after saving her father's life by calling an ambulance.
Tara Grogan, along with her younger sisters Taylor and Chloe, had been getting ready for a rugby match that morning when their dad, Matthew, collapsed at their home in Cork.
'My sisters woke me up, we were going to a rugby match and then my dad wasn't feeling well and then he fell on the ground,'
Tara told Cork's 96FM
.
'She said her father was lying on the floor and 'looked really unwell'.
Tara, who said that she was 'really scared', quickly rang an ambulance and asked her two younger sisters, Chloe and Taylor, for help.
'I was trying to stay calm and not make them all scared,' Tara said.
After dialling 999, Tara asked the operator: 'Can I have an ambulance please? My dad is after fainting.'
Tara was able to provide the family's Eircode thanks to helpful advice from her mother Claire, a nurse, and the operator advised one of her sisters to put a towel under their father Matthew's head.
An ambulance arrived around 20 minutes later, and took Matthew to hospital.
Matthew told 96FM that he 'came to' before the ambulance staff arrived to the house, but said that he had some short-term memory loss.
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'I couldn't actually think of the children's names,' Matthew said, adding that he had already felt unwell that morning.
'I thought it was flu, being perfectly honest,' he said. 'I was a little bit incoherent, and I was wobbling around the place.'
He was escorted to the ambulance shortly after it arrived at his house.
Matthew said he felt 'such unbelievable pride' in his daughters after the call.
'The pride that I had in Tara, Taylor and Chloe, their actions helped, they were caring, they were attentive, they didn't panic.
'For kids aged ten, nine and six, it's unbelievable maturity and caring,' he said.
National Ambulance Service (NAS) officer Pat McCarthy praised Tara's quick response, describing it as 'an incredible act of bravery.
When 10 year old Tara Grogan's father collapsed at home she called 999.
Knowing the
#Eircode
helped to save his life.
Today she was recognised by the
@AmbulanceNAS
More tomorrow morning
@Corks96FM
from 9am
@Postvox
@DavidMcredmond
pic.twitter.com/25YMTR3rvw
— Paul Byrne (@PaulByrne_1)
June 11, 2025
Tara was presented with an award by the NAS in recognition of her bravery.
'We have adults that wouldn't even act like Tara did and would panic in situations like this,' McCarthy said.
'She was so thoughtful of her two younger siblings who were also amazing on the day. It was incredible the way she took charge at such a young age and kept so calm.'
Asked if she had learned anything from the experience, Tara said: 'To just not panic and be prepared.'
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