Boy, 11, Honored for Saving Younger Sister's Life

Epileptic girl went underwater in the bathtub last month

A La Grange fifth-grader says he never thought of himself as a hero, but his Boy Scouts training helped him become one when he sprang into action to save his little sister's life.

Eddie Campbell says he found his little sister partly underwater in the bathtub last month.  She'd had a seizure while washing her hair.

The 11-year-old pulled her out, told their father what happened and grabbed the phone to call 911.

"I couldn't find a phone so I had to sprint all the way downstairs to grab it, and I was in such a rush I dialed 9-9-1 instead of 9-1-1, so I had delete that and call 9-1-1 again," Eddie Campbell recalled.

In the audio from the emergency call, Campbell can be heard talking to his sister, telling her to open her mouth and reassuring her that "it's going to be OK." He told the dispatcher that his sister was not responding but was breathing.

"You're doing a great job. I want you to know that," the 911 dispatcher is heard saying.

The boy's parents couldn't be more proud of their son, who will receive a Citizen Lifesaving Award from the Village of La Grange on Tuesday night.

"You don't know how they're going to react in a situation like this, so when they act so beautifully, you cannot be anything but proud," said their mother, Katherine Campbell.

Mary Campbell has no lasting affects from the incident and is taking medicine for her epilepsy.  She said she's thankful for the ambulance and hospital staff who took care of her and proud of her older brother.

"I'm kind of happy for him because he saved my life," she said.  "I'm really happy for him."

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