A six-year-old from Tauranga has been handed a certificate of bravery from St. John after keeping calm and dialing 111 when her mother fell unconscious during a seizure.

Alyssa Dines was playing at her home near Bureta when mum Michaela Shepherd, who suffers from epilepsy, was struck by the seizure.

Six-year-old Alyssa Dines holds up her bravery award alongside paramedic Adam Rayner and mum Michaela Shepherd. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

Instead of panicking, the youngster used her mother's iPhone to call 111, then waited patiently while an ambulance made its way to their address.

'I'm so proud of her,” says Michaela. 'It was a big thing for her to do.

'When she was three I taught her to call 111 if anything should happen to me, and it's quite complicated from an iPhone, so to do that in what was a stressful situation was pretty incredible.

'From what I know she held it together until help turned up.”

The youngster was handed the award at a special presentation at Pillans Point School this afternoon.

Alyssa, who received a certificate for being brave and conscientious during a difficult situation, says: 'Mummy had a seizure and I saw her fall down. When she woke up she was walking weirdly around in circles.

'I've always remembered to call 111 since I was told a couple of years ago. I burst into tears when the ambulance arrived because I didn't know if they were going to come on time or not.

'I told the people on the phone to come really quick because I was scared and didn't know what to do.

'Now I always say ‘are you alright mum?' and I get scared when I'm out at other people's houses.”

Paramedic Adam Rayner was first on the scene following Michaela's seizure, and has nothing but praise for the way Alyssa handled the situation.

'It's really cool that a little kid like Alyssa has the ability to stay so calm and pass on information,” says Adam.

'In all the time I've been in the ambulance service – which is a long time – I've never encountered this before, so it's a real one-off.

'She's very responsible for one so young, and she did amazingly well to maintain her composure and strength.”

Describing the moment he reached their address, Adam says: 'It was so cute. I got to the door and Alyssa was still on the phone to the call taker, who was telling her to put the phone down and unlock the door.

'She hung up the phone and immediately grabbed my leg and started crying. My colleague looked after mum and I looked after Alyssa, so it was really cute.

'Alyssa then used the phone again to find her grandma's number, so she's a pretty amazing kid and really deserves this award.”