A Virginia girl, 3, used the video-calling iPhone app FaceTime to message her mother and save her dad's life after he suffered a stroke. The little girl apparently remembered how to do it from watching her mom FaceTime with her grandparents every other day.
Molly McCabe of Winchester is being called a hero for picking up and using the phone after it fell to the ground when Trevor McCabe, 27, was at home on July 4 caring for the girl and suffered the stroke, WRC-TV reported.
Devon McCabe, 29, a nurse at Winchester Medical Center, told the Winchester Star that Molly actually called her twice on FaceTime.
"I actually missed her first FaceTime call," said Devon McCabe, who was working at the hospital when she received the call. "She was sobbing, crying, [saying], 'Look at daddy, look at daddy.'"
That's when Molly turned the phone to show her father, Trevor McCabe convulsing on the floor of the family's Frederick County home, the Star said.
Devon McCabe immediately called 911 and emergency personnel transported Trevor McCabe to the Winchester Medical Center before flying him to the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus, WRC-TV said. There, doctors broke up a blood clot that had clogged an artery in his brain stem.
"Probably if I had to pick one artery in the brain, that's the most critical artery that you don't want to have blocked off," Inova radiologist Dr. Edward Greenberg told WRC-TV.
The Winchester Star said Trevor McCabe was healthy and active, so the stroke came out of the blue. The family had been kayaking on the lake the day before, but 24 hours later he was on life support.
Devon McCabe said she was told that more than 85 percent of patients who suffer similar types of strokes die because that part of the brain controls critical functions such as breathing and heart rates.
"Life can change in an instant," Devon McCabe said. "The first few days I thought he was going to die. I was afraid to be optimistic. The only reason he’s doing so well is because he was able to get intervention so quickly."
That intervention came via the precocious 3-year-old with a great memory of watching her mother while she used the app, the Star reported.
"We FaceTime with her grandparents every other day, but I'm the one doing it," Devon McCabe said. "The only thing I can think is that maybe she has seen me do it so many times that she remembered what to do. Five days later, it's still stunning to me that she was able to put it all together. There is no doubt that she saved her father's life. She was working really hard to get a hold [of] me."
According to a GoFundMe page set up to cover Trevor McCabe medical expenses, he has made progress.
"Trevor has also had his head bandage removed, is planning on getting the drainage tube out of the back of his head very soon, is getting better and better at his breathing exercises (and breathing still totally on his own) and is receiving physical therapy to help with swallowing and walking, among other motor skills," an update on the page stated.
"Trevor got out of bed and took a walk outside of his room using a walker with the help of his (physical therapist). This was a sight that was literally impossible to imagine on Monday. We are all blown away," the update continued.
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