A six-year-old Mississippi girl was honored this month for helping to save her and her mother after their car ran off a rural highway.
Bryanna Cook was recognized with a resolution, presented by the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors in a Nov. 15 ceremony. Latonya Malone, who has been a 911 operator for the past 16 years, was honored alongside the first grader too.
Bryanna had been traveling to her grandmother's home with her mother, Yolanda Jackson Cook, behind the wheel on Oct. 23 when her mom suddenly experienced a stroke and a seizure.
"I was scared … when I looked around, we was in the woods because we just fell off the road and my mom couldn't wake up or respond," Bryanna recalled to "Good Morning America."
The young girl said she called her grandmother, who instructed her to call 911.
Malone was working that afternoon when the call came in.
"It came from one of our agencies, which is Noxubee County 911," Malone explained to "GMA," before she was able to get on the line with Bryanna.
"I had Bryanna on the phone trying to get her to check on her mom, to see what was wrong and what happened. And she said that her mom got sick and they ran off the road and they didn't see anything," Malone recalled.
The search and rescue took a team effort as first responders scoured both Noxubee and Lowndes Counties for over two hours, well past after Malone's shift ended.
But Malone said she was determined to stay on the line with Bryanna until help arrived and it finally did.
"I couldn't get off because she's 6 and so we found her. We located her with the help of Noxubee and some of my fellow co-workers," Malone said. "They were the ones that were calling the phone companies and a different thing to try to find her but in all, we located her and I was so pleased and so honored and at the end of the conversation, of course, I broke down once they found her because I was excited, because I have three daughters myself."
Cook told "GMA" she's "very proud" of her daughter, who knew she had to do something during their time of need, and said she was "forever grateful" for everyone who came to their aid.
"That's a lot for a six-year-old, just from what they were saying. And there were a couple of adults that [were like], 'I don't even know if I could have been as brave as Bryanna was and held my composure like she did in order to get help on the scene,'" Cook said.
As for Malone, Cook also called her "amazing" for going "over and beyond" to be there for her daughter.
"Mr. Latonya will forever and always be in my heart, in my family's heart," Cook said.
After spending a week in the hospital, Cook said she is "doing much, much better."
"The stroke that I had the day of the accident was not my first. So I have been very, very blessed to not have any long-term effects from any of them," she said. "I'm just doing therapy right now for my arm. I'm having some issues with my left arm but other than that, I'm back to regular household activities and keeping up with Bryanna."
The mom of one said her message to other parents is to make sure children know how to use a phone in the event of an emergency.
"It's important for children to know how to use the phone, to know phone numbers … to know how to, in an emergency situation if they need to, in order to text if they can't get the person on the phone and to know the number 911," she said.
Editor's note: This was originally published on Nov. 30, 2023.
