How Mia Brown, 7, saved her mum’s life after she collapsed

Maryborough schoolgirl Mia Brown sits down with reporter Carlie Walker to talk about what happened the day a pizza nearly cost her mother her life. Watch the video.

A brave little girl has been hailed a hero for her level head and quick response when her mum collapsed on the floor after suffering a severe allergic reaction.

Late last month, Michelle Brown bit into a pizza at her home in Granville on the Fraser Coast, collapsed to the floor and started turning blue.

An anaphylactic reaction to tomato had caused her airways to close, and as she lay on the ground, her seven-year-old daughter Mia sprang into action.

She grabbed her mum’s EpiPen from the place where it was always stored and administered three injections before calling 000.

Mia and Michelle Brown are relieved after Mia injected her dying mother and rang 000.

Michelle, 45, a veterinarian, said she had always been extremely allergic to tomatoes and had tried to ensure the pizza she was eating didn’t have any trace of it.

But she knew when she took the first bite that it did.

“I knew what was going to happen,” she said.

“Lucky for me Mia was coming out of her bedroom.”

As Mia walked by, she could see her mum was in trouble.

“She came down to see me and said ‘mum are you having an anaphylactic shock,’ and I said, ‘yeah, I am’.

“She then grabbed my phone, put my fingerprint on it, rang Kat, who lives around the corner, and then rang 000, as well as grabbing an EpiPen.”

After giving her mum the EpiPen injections, she spoke to emergency services, telling them her mum was “going blue”.

Then she stayed by her mother’s side until the paramedics arrived.

Later, while Michelle was recovering in hospital, she spoke to the paramedics who had saved her.

They told her they had been extremely impressed by how Mia had handled the phone call, and had thought they were speaking to a much older child.

Michelle said she had taught all three of her young daughters what to do in case of an emergency because of her severe allergy.

Michelle Brown with her daughters, Zara, Kora and Mia, 7. Mia saved her mum's life after she went into anaphylactic shock.

She is now encouraging all parents to do the same, whether or not they were at risk of a severe allergic reaction, as one never knew when an emergency might happen.

Her five year old daughter, Zara, is just learning how to administer an EpiPen, Michelle said.

Michelle said she was “extremely proud” of Mia.

“She kept her calm when so many people, even grown adults, would have literally freaked and ran and wouldn’t have known what to do.

“For that I’m extremely proud.”

Kora, Mia and Zara with their mum, Michelle Brown in their home on the Fraser Coast. Michelle survived an terrifying anaphylactic reaction to tomatoes thanks to the quick thinking of Mia, 7.

Mia has become a hero at Granville State School, where news quickly spread of how she had saved her mum’s life.

A video posted on the school’s Facebook page shows Mia shyly describing how she was able to save her mum that day.

When asked what number she called, Mia didn’t hesitate: “zero, zero, zero,” she said.