10 years old girl calls 911 to help mother during seizures episode

A major seizure has not been a part of Kathleen Horyczun's life for years, but one struck the morning of her daughter's 10th birthday."I think I had one while I was asleep," Horyczun said Wednesday. "I ended up falling out of bed. I hit my head on the dresser. I got up and fell down again."The only other person in their West Islip apartment Dec. 5 was Natalie, who was getting ready to go to school and celebrate her birthday with her classmates."I was scared," Natalie said Wednesday. But her mother said she's proud of her: her daughter called 911 and summoned emergency technicians.

After first trying to call her grandmother, who lives nearby, Natalie called 911 and told the operator her address, what happened and her mother's condition."It's hard for me to tell you what happened," Horyczun said, "because I don't remember a thing." She had prepared cupcakes for Natalie to take to school, and then, "all I can recall was they're bringing me down the stairs on the stretcher."She was treated at a hospital and released a few hours later.

Horyczun, 41, said she has had seizures since she was about 12, but medication has limited most of them to minor incidents she describes as "fazing out" briefly.A recent change in her medication may have led to the seizure on Natalie's birthday, a more severe one than she's had in years and greater than any her daughter had ever witnessed.But Natalie made it to the birthday celebration that day at Bayview Elementary school."I'm very proud of what she did," her mother said.

"She's a very responsible little girl."Among her gifts was a $10 bill from Jeremy Matthews, one of the responding Suffolk police officers."He was the nicest one," Natalie said. "He helped me find my cupcakes and was telling me everything was going to be all right."