Bryanna Cook was scared.
The 6-year-old first-grader at Fairview Elementary didn’t know exactly where she was. The family car had run off the road into the woods, and her mother, Yolanda, who had been driving, was unresponsive.
On their way to see Bryanna’s grandmother in Preston on Oct. 23, Yolanda suffered a stroke while driving on Highway 21 North between Shuqulak and Macon. After the car came to rest in the woods, the uninjured Bryanna did the first thing she could think of: grab her mom’s cell phone and call her grandmother, who told her to dial 911.
“I was scared, so I called my grandmother, and my mom wouldn’t wake up,” Bryanna said Friday. “That’s when I called 911.”
She first spoke to a Noxubee County dispatcher, who connected her with Lowndes County Dispatcher Latonya Malone in Columbus.
From there, Bryanna helped Malone and first responders in Noxubee and Lowndes County by describing the woods around her, how far they were from the road and her mother’s condition, who was otherwise uninjured from the impact.
“I talked to Bryanna for a while, and I told her who I was, and I told her that I’m willing to help and we are trying to find her,” Malone said. “So I was talking to Bryanna on the 911 line and I spoke with her grandmother on my cell phone. I was talking to both of them at the same time. Bryanna was able to tell us where they were going and the grandmother helped too because she told us around where they were at the time (based on when they left home).”
Malone, who has dealt with children on 911 calls before, said she first made sure Bryanna was OK before asking questions about her life at school and home to calm her down. Once they had been talking for a while, she could ask her focused questions to help locate the car.
“Every so often, Bryanna would ask if she could tell me something, and then talk to me about her friends and her teachers and other things,” Malone said. “That helps them.”
Over the next two hours, while first responders looked for the pair, Bryanna stayed on the phone and followed Malone’s instructions, even as the situation appeared not to be improving.
“I … got out and opened the doors for my mom (to give her some fresh air),” Bryanna said. “I tapped her on the face to see if she would wake up, but she didn’t.”
Information from Bryanna and the grandmother, Malone said, narrowed the search area and eventually brought first-responders to their rescue.
Yolanda was taken to a hospital in Macon before being airlifted to North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo for specialized treatment.
Until Yolanda was released Oct. 31, Bryanna stayed at the hospital with her mom.
“She stayed with me the entire week,” Yolanda told The Dispatch. “She was just doing her schoolwork. Her teachers and the school principal were all very supportive.”
“I helped my mom because I saved her,” Bryanna added. “At the hospital, I helped her get out of bed and walked with her down the hallways because I love her.”
Bryanna is now working on getting back into a routine at Fairview Elementary School while Yolanda begins physical therapy to recover from some of the long-term effects of the stroke.
“She’s back in class with her friends, which she loves,” Yolanda said. “I have not gone back to work yet, but I am in communication with my employer. I’m really trying to move forward.”
Fairview Principal Monte Ewing-Johnson said Bryanna displayed values the faculty try to instill in their students and was not surprised to hear she helped dispatchers so much.
“The level of joy my heart felt when I learned of Bryanna’s heroism is immeasurable,” she said. “Bryanna is kind, compassionate and patient with her classmates; therefore, it is not hard to believe that she was able to call 911 and wait as she and her mom were rescued.
Daily we talk to our students about being good citizens and making good choices. Bryanna has certainly displayed the acts we encourage on a daily basis. Fairview Elementary is extremely proud of her.”
On Wednesday, Bryanna was honored by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors, which passed a resolution recognizing her for her bravery. That gave her the chance to meet Malone in person.
“I was so happy to hear that she was doing OK,” Malone said. “I checked on Yolanda regularly while she was in intensive care. I was so pleased to see them, and it was such an honor to see Bryanna get recognized by the board of supervisors.”
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