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Lancaster Girl Calls 911, Saves Grandfather's Life

LOS ANGELES (CBS) — An 11-year old Lancaster girl who dialed the right number to save her ailing grandfather is officially a hero in the eyes of Los Angeles County.

KNX 1070's Diane Thompson reports Tanjania Gross, a fourth-grader elementary school in Lancaster, knew just what to do when her grandfather suffered a stroke on Thanksgiving Day.

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"She did a great job," said L.A. County dispatcher Andrew Frascona. "If it wasn't for how she acted, that situation could have went way worse.

A 911 call shows Tanjania remained calm as she relayed the details of her 66-year-old grandfather's seizure to emergency dispatchers.

"He was walking down the hallway to go to the room, he had a glass, and he started shaking and the water started going on the floor," said Tanjania.

She then quickly went to get some family members, who laid her grandfather down on a bed as she called 911.

Andrew recalls how smoothly Tanjania relayed critical information to him under the most stressful of circumstances.

"She was extremely calm, she answered all the questions I had," he said. "It made my job really easy."

Her quick thinking and calm demeanor in an emergency earned Tanjania the "911 Local Heroes- Medal of Honor", an award is presented every year to a young person who helps save a life or property or reports a crime using 911.

Lt. Don Ford of the Palmdale Sheriff's station also had high praises for Tanjania demeanor.

"When you listen to that nice calm voice on the phone, it makes it so much easier and so much safer for everybody to respond, and that's really the key," said Ford.

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