LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (WFLA) — An 11-year-old girl received the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive: a medal for saving a life.
“I had no idea what was happening. All I knew, first, he was calling my name and then it felt like the next second, the paramedics were running in trying to see what was happening,” said Maggie Lewandowski.
Maggie Lewandowski was just 10 years old when her dad suffered a stroke. Thankfully, she had just received first aid training through Girl Scouts and knew what to do.
The first thing she did was immediately call 911.
“I answered most of the questions that they were asking, and I followed all of the instructions that they told me to do, and then I eventually led the paramedics up to get him,” she said.
Her father, Greg, said that morning in June 2024, they were supposed to go on a dad/daughter date to Busch Gardens.
“It was just the two of us at home and I woke up, walked out of the bedroom, and just collapsed flat on the floor,” he said.
By listening to 911, keeping her dad both stable and conscious, getting him water, and showing EMS where to go, his little girl is the reason he is alive today.
“She was the calm one, I was frantic and not sure what was going on with me, and I desperately needed somebody to help me. She was there for me, she was calm, and got me the help I needed,” Greg Lewandowski said.
Maggie’s mom, Meg, was across the country when this happened and received a FaceTime from Maggie explaining the situation.
“I’m so grateful that she was there and that she stayed calm,” she said.
It has been a long journey for Greg to be able to walk again, but he said Maggie was there every step of the way.
“I felt relieved and when he was in the hospital and in rehab, I stayed with him the whole time. I would even just lay in the hospital bed with him,” Maggie Lewandowski said.
Now, Maggie is being recognized for being a hero.
“Amazing that she’s being recognized for the hard work that she’s done, she saved my life,” Greg Lewandowski said.
The medal for saving a life is the highest award for a Girl Scout, and out of the million Girl Scouts across the country, 25 received the award this past year. Two of them are in the Tampa Bay area.
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