7-year-old honored for calling 911 after mom collapses

CINCINNATI -- A 7-year-old girl is being hailed as a hero after keeping her cool and calling 911 while her mother was having a medical emergency.

Alyssa Ward sprang into action, summoning help recently when her mother collapsed at home. Dispatcher Victoria Jenkins gave Ward life-or-death instructions over the phone, and paramedics arrived at the family's Cincinnati-area home within minutes.

"She has a very little voice, but she got a lot accomplished with that little voice, that's for sure," Jenkins said.

Ward was recently honored for stepping up when her mom needed her most, and she got to meet the men and women who helped save her mother's life during a surprise assembly at her school.

"You grow up and you think your parents are your heroes," Ward's mother Jennifer said. "Now that I get to call my 7-year-old my hero...it's an amazing feeling."