A student at The Villages Charter School saved a girl’s life at the Ocala Drive-In.
Annabelle Miller, a 14-year-old girl from Fruitland Park, was standing in line Saturday evening at a concession stand when the girl behind her fell face first on the ground for reasons unknown at this time. She was unconscious on the ground, with most assuming she had a seizure.
While those around her stood silent in shock, Miller jumped into action. She quickly turned the girl over onto her back and began performing CPR compressions. The girl started to come to, but she was bleeding from her mouth, nose and a cut on her forehead from the fall.
Miller proceeded to pull the girl up into a sitting position to keep her from choking on her own blood. By this time, the crowd around Miller was still frozen at the situation unfolding before them. Some had called 911, others were telling Miller to be careful of the blood. The girl then completely regained consciousness and was escorted to her vehicle by others at the Drive-In.
Tessa Clark, Miller’s mother, was unaware of the situation until she received a phone call from her daughter. She was informed that Miller was giving a statement because she performed emergency medical response services on the girl. Her husband went to check on Miller, after which the family returned home.
Clark recalled that as she discussed the events with Miller, including her own safety and the dangers of blood contamination, her daughter was insistent that she had to help the girl.
“As a mother, I didn’t know how to feel about the situation at first,” Clark said. “She’s supposed to be safe, and there she was making sure someone else was safe.”
Clark advised that her daughter has always been one to think logically in times of crisis, and her instincts must have taken over when she saw the struggling girl. As a babysitter, Miller had taken CPR certification courses offered by the Red Cross. Those courses might have very well saved the girl’s life.
“It just makes me really proud of her,” said Clark. “At 14 years old, that’s a situation where I would have been standing there waiting for someone to do something.”
