Sitting at her dining room table doing schoolwork on a hot summer day, Dakota Mellick wasn't expecting to become a hero.
But when the 7-year-old's mother was stung several times by what were believed to be bees Thursday, that's what happened.
Jeanie Mellick, who is allergic to bees, was outside hosing off the deck at their Martinez home on Stallings Island Road when she disturbed a hive inside a hose cart.
Dakota, a homeschooled pupil, heard her mother's screams.
"They just swarmed out at me, and I actually ran clear across the deck and smacked into the window at the other end," said Mellick, who also is allergic to shrimp and shellfish. "My daughter heard me and opened the door and came out, and I yelled at her to get inside."
By that time, the insects had already stung Mellick on the back and leg, and she began having severe respiratory problems.
"I just couldn't breathe, and I had hives, and my chest was hurting and burning," she said. "I just felt like my lung capacity was only like a quarter of what it should be, and my throat was swollen."
Dakota ran to her mother's aid. She helped her mom to reach the kitchen, where Mellick lay on the floor. The girl then called 911 and followed the dispatcher's directions, her mother said.
Dakota brought ice for Mellick and climbed on top of the refrigerator to retrieve her mother's EpiPen, a device that administers an emergency injection of the drug epinephrine. Dakota then administered the shot.
"Well, it was freaking me out surely, because that was the first time I ever called 911 before," Dakota said. "It's like this is the safest house on earth."
The two were home alone. Mellick has four grown children, and her husband, a physician at the Medical College of Georgia, was on a missionary trip in Honduras.
"She was so good," Mellick said. "I think she saved my life."
Dakota remained on the phone with a 911 dispatcher until a Columbia County sheriff's deputy and Gold Cross paramedics arrived minutes later.
"When everyone got here, I was kind of crying," she said.
Paramedics gave Benadryl to Mellick, who didn't have to be hospitalized.
"(Dakota) was calm, cool and collected until we got there, and then it was like after we got there, the reaction set in," said Gold Cross critical care paramedic Jo Wolf, who was called to the house. "I was telling her, 'Honey, you did a beautiful job. You saved momma's life.' "
Though Mellick is frequently outside tending her garden and watering plants, she said she hasn't been stung in about 20 years. Mellick said this was the first time she has needed the EpiPen, which helps stop allergic reactions and provides time to seek emergency medical care.
"I just managed to do it," Dakota said. "I wouldn't want her to die."
Wolf said that had Dakota not acted in the manner she did, the situation could have ended in tragedy.
"For her to have enough wit about her at her age and enough understanding, it's just amazing," she said. "She's definitely a hero."
Photo by Jenna Martin
When her mother, Jeanie Mellick, suffered a severe allergic reaction after being stung, 7-year-old Dakota Mellick called 911 and administered her mother's EpiPen to control the reaction.
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