A “little heroine” has been praised for her quick thinking actions which saved her uncle’s life.

When James Sizer collapsed in Ely, 10-year-old Courtney-Jeanette Jeakins kept calm and acted quickly to dial 999 and put him in the recovery position.

It was the first time Courtney-Jeanette had dealt with a medical emergency on her own and the first time she’d called 999.

She said: “I could see how he [James] was laying, that he was having a fit and I knew I had to be brave. It was lucky I had my phone on me.”

She added she was “excited and nervous” to receive her certificate.

Emergency call handler Robert Pitt and paramedic Simon Wicker were so impressed, that they both separately nominated her to receive recognition from the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST).

Simon said: ““Without thinking, Courtney immediately called 999 as her uncle was having a seizure.

“She then proceeded to put him in the recovery position and kept him on his side and protected his airway.

“By the time I arrived on scene he had almost stopped fitting, but his niece stayed by his side softly talking to him and reassuring him.

“She’s a little heroine.”

Emergency crew arrived in a rapid response vehicle three minutes after her call and found that the girl was doing “really well”.

The pair presented a certificate of thanks to the Lantern Primary School student at an assembly on Friday (May 5).

Robert said Courtney-Jeanette did an “incredible job” by being calm and composed and gave the address of the emergency and answered all his questions.

• In 2015/16 the Trust received 1,037,119 emergency calls.

• The Trust handled 500,620 non-emergency patient journeys.

• The EEAST has 357 front line ambulances, 201 marked response cars, 164 non-emergency ambulances, 52 HART/major incident/resilience vehicles and more than 130 sites.

• It has three emergency operation centres (EOCs) (Bedford, Chelmsford and Norwich).

• There are more than 4,000 staff and more than 1,000 volunteers.