Getting a Medal of Honor is a moment most people can only dream of. A local Girl Scout is now one of just 22 Girl Scouts in the U.S. to get the award.
"Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast bestows the Medal of Honor to Girl Scout Cadet Katelyn Hannah," Christy Brown, CEO, Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast said.
Although it's a great honor, it's one most people might hope they never have the opportunity to get.
The full title of the award is the Girl Scouts of the USA National Lifesaving Medal of Honor Award. To get it, Katelyn had to help her family get through her dad's life-threatening fall from their attic.
"I heard a really loud noise," Katelyn said.
"I remember falling," explains Katelyn's Dad, Christopher Hannah.
"I saw him laying on the floor. And he was conscious, but unresponsive," added Katelyn.
The family would later find out Christopher had a punctured collapsed lung, cuts on his head, eleven broken ribs and a broken clavicle. Luckily, Katelyn knew what to do thanks to seven years of Girl Scout first aid training.
"I sent my brother to get my mom in the garage and then I went and tried to talk to him, then when my mom arrived, I went in to the house and called 911," she explained.
Katelyn helped her mom, a nurse for 20 years, act quickly.
"She remained on the phone with the 911 dispatcher and basically gave them all the information I was giving," said Katelyn's mom, Tracy Hannah. Katelyn also took her siblings to a neighbors house while she and her mom helped her dad.
"I was very proud of her," Christopher said. He doesn't recall anything between falling and his wife telling him the ambulance was on the way. Christopher spent a week in the intensive care unit.
Now, the family hopes Katelyn's award will inspire others to stay calm and take appropriate action in a scary situation, too.
"I think she's going to be a good example for other girl scouts," said her dad.
