Northfield, Minn. 10-year-old saves mother's life during diabetic reaction

At 10 years old, Amber Fredrickson has already saved a life – her mother's.

To help kick off National CPR week, she was awarded with the "Life Saver Award" through Northfield Emergency Services' Heart Safe Program. No one has earned the award in many years.

Amber was awarded for her bravery on the night of March 11, when her diabetic mother woke up feeling slightly off from a nap, but hurried to pick Amber and her brother, Gary, up from a friend's house. On the ride back home, JoAnne Fredrickson was driving slowly, and she doesn't remember much of what happened. Amber noticed and took action. She took her mom's cell, called her dad, and after about 3 or 4 miles, finally got her mom to pull over, put the car in neutral and called 911.

"She saved my life, and that's what she would've done for me any other time or anybody else," Fredrickson said.

Northfield's Heart Safe project teaches bystander CPR and educates on the community on the signs and symptoms of heart attack, stroke and diabetic reactions, the three most common precursors of cardiac arrest.

Key symptoms

Heart attack

-Chest pain
-Shortness of breath
-Numbness and tingling in your arms
-Radiating pain in jaw, back, left arm and/or neck

Stroke

-Facial drooping on one side of face
-Inability to use one side of body over the other
-Slurred speech
-Inability to form words

Diabetic reactions

-Sleepiness
-Confusion
-Slurred speech
-Sudden anger/combativeness