Jabar Stanikzai, 13, reveals moments before death of girl, 5, at Ballater Ave, Seaton and how he called for help
A 13-year-old boy who made the call for emergency services to help a young girl at Seaton who later died has recalled the incident in harrowing detail.
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A teenage boy who made the call for emergency services to help an unresponsive young girl at Seaton who later died has recalled the incident in harrowing detail.
The Advertiser has spoken with 13-year-old boy Jabar Stanikzai, who called triple-0, about the harrowing details before the young girl’s death on Wednesday evening.
Jabar said he was walking home from school when he heard a man yelling from about a street away.
“I could hear a man screaming, I could hear him all the way from the street down,” he said.
“When I came closer to the man I could see that he was holding a child – a little girl – in his arms and she was limp, not moving or anything and he was yelling her name I think.
“When he saw me, he shouted at me to call the ambulance so I ran to the phone booth on the street and called the ambulance.”
Jabar waited for emergency services to arrive and observed six or seven ambulances and multiple police cars arrive at a Housing Trust property on Ballater Ave within five minutes of making the call just before 4pm.
Paramedics frantically treated the young girl at the scene for what was believed to be a cardiac arrest incident, before she was rushed to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital where she died a short time later.
Jabar said he went home after making the call for help and was deeply saddened to later learn about the girl’s death on the news.
Jabar’s father Abdul Ghafar Stanikzai said he was proud of his son for helping and how he could not fathom experiencing the loss of a young child.
“I’m very proud of Jabar because he has never been in an emergency situation like this before and he showed he was able to help others,” he said.
“But I am a father of three sons, and one of my children is five years old just like that little girl and I don’t want to even imagine what it’s like losing someone so young.”
Neighbour Sharon Surace, 67, expressed her grief over the loss of the child by placing flowers on the doorstep of the girl’s home on Thursday morning.
She said she heard the commotion outside on Wednesday, describing the man’s yells for help.
“All I heard was this guy screeching, he wasn’t yelling like he was fighting or drunk, you just knew it was a scream like someone has died,” she said.
“It was a horrific scene to witness, to see this guy holding the (unresponsive) little girl in his arms and yelling for help, it’s just heartbreaking.”
Ms Surace revealed she had lost a child in the past and felt compelled to leave a gesture for the family who “would be going through the hardest of days” after their loss.
Western District detectives, with the assistance of Major Crime detectives, had been investigating but the girl’s family revealed on Friday she died from asthma.
A report is being prepared for the coroner.
It is understood the parents, who are not accused of any wrongdoing, are assisting with inquiries.
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