MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Brighton woman is thanking her 2-year-old daughter for saving her life.
Melissa Leach says her daughter Emma Grace will sometimes sleep in her room with her when she wants ‘mommy time’ or is feeling restless. Those nights, her fiancé will sleep in Emma’s room.
Emma’s family describes her as a ‘Southern sass pot.’
“She usually never meets a stranger,” said Leach.
Like most two-year-olds, she’s not yet potty trained and is still mastering her ABCs.
But two weeks ago, she showed knowledge beyond her years.
“I’m still in shock,” said Leach. She said she saved her life.
Leach had been fighting off what she thought was a sinus infection combined with her asthma.
She let Emma sleep in bed with her one night since she was acting restless.
“Then about three o’clock [in the morning], I woke up just coughing really bad,” said Leach.
She went to the bathroom to clear her throat and when she turned to come back out, she passed out on the floor.
“I remember little bits and pieces, and I remember [Emma] jumping on my back kind of like you would ride a horsey, and I remember her saying, ‘Wake up mommy, wake up mommy.’”
“I got on mommy’s back,” said Emma.
After that, Leach says she blacked out.
Her fiancé later told her Emma ran into the room he was sleeping in and woke him up.
“He grabs his phone, he’s calling 911 and kind of keeping her at bay,” said Leach.
She was rushed in an ambulance to a nearby hospital in Covington where she was treated for four days. It turned out to be pneumonia, severe bronchitis and asthma.
Doctors told Leach her breathing was getting cut off from swollen airways, saying she could’ve died if Emma didn’t act so quickly.
“God knew for whatever reason that he needed to wake her up,” said Leach.
Leach says her fiancé would’ve slept through it had he been in there like usual.
She points to Emma as their biggest blessing.
“Are you a hero?” WREG’s Bridget Chapman asked Emma.
“Yeah!” she answered.
Leach says she’s feeling better and can’t wait to re-tell the story to Emma when she’s older.