Catlettsburg student saves grandmother with CPR

Lee Ward, The Daily Independent, Ashland, Ky.
·2 min read

Mar. 14—CATLETTSBURG — Aubrey Johnson was too scared to be nervous when her grandmother, Donna Duncan, fell at their house on March 9.

"I was in my room and I heard a big thump and I saw my mawmaw on the floor," the Catlettsburg Elementary fifth-grader said. "I called 911 and the (dispatcher) walked me through giving her CPR."

The girl's grandfather was there, too, but he said he didn't know what to do.

"I couldn't believe it," Jack Conley said. "She did everything just right. It's amazing. She's a pretty good kid to know."

Aubrey continued CPR on her grandmother until the ambulance arrived, which took about 10 minutes. She said her grandmother was on life support for a time, but she was due to be released from the hospital this week, having suffered a heart attack.

"I knew she wasn't breathing and her heartbeat was gone, and I knew she was going to die if I didn't do something," Aubrey said.

Conley said he's very proud of his granddaughter, a good student who makes A's and B's and plans to try out for her school's track team this month.

"I told her, 'You did something very great,'" Conley said. "Most 11-year-olds wouldn't have done it but she did it."

Jana Osborne, principal at Catlettsburg Elementary School, said Aubrey loves helping people.

"She's fantastic, always doing what she should be doing and she helps everybody," Osborne said. "She does what she can to help her teachers."

Her grandmother is aware of what Aubrey did for her.

"The nurses told her. They said if I wasn't there, she would have died. That's what they told her," Aubrey said.

(606) 326-2661 — lward@dailyindependent.com