A brave nine-year-old girl from Dudley has received a special award after her quick-thinking saved her grandad's life. 

Abigail Smith was presented with a Royal Humane Society Award last night (Tuesday, January 30) at the West Midlands Police Chief Constable Achievement Awards after she sprang into action to help her grandad Steve Smith. 

On November 22 2022, Ms Smith noticed that her grandad had become seriously unwell as he was babysitting for her and her seven-year-old sister. 

The audience heard how she remained calm and immediately called 999. 

When the call handler asked for his address, she quickly searched the house and found a letter with it on and stayed on the line until the ambulance arrived. 

Ms Smith said: “It was really scary when it happened but I knew I had to be the big person and stay calm because my little sister was so frightened.

“I knew I had to look for a letter to check for the address and I was glad I could find one. I am really close to my grandad, we have a really good bond, so I am just really happy he’s ok.”

Mr Smith was taken to hospital where it was confirmed that he had suffered a serious heart attack. 

He has since undergone a triple heart bypass. 

Ms Smith was presented with her award by Chief Constable Craig Guildford and PCC Simon Foster.

Mr Smith said: “I don’t remember a thing about that day but I am doing fine now. I am so proud of Abigail, what she did was amazing.”

It was also thanks to a stroke of luck that just two weeks earlier she had been visited by Dudley PCSOs at her school.

As part of their community work, Simon Verity-Harris and Deb Hancox had taught Ms Smith and her class at Dudley Wood Primary what to do in a first aid emergency, including the key advice on how to check what address they were at if somebody needed help.

Simon Verity-Harris said: “We are so thrilled that the work we do made an impact in such a big way on Abigail.

“We do lots of work with schools in Dudley and we absolutely love being able to work with the pupils on how to be a good citizen. 

“We’re so happy and relieved that on this occasion Abigail listened so brilliantly and acted on what she learned.”