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Former
county commissioner succumbs to cancer
Wu swings through Newberg on break from
Congress
Tigard man faces additional charges in
undergarment thefts
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A small hero recognized |
Three-year-old Jasmine Jones lauded for her efforts
to save her de facto father |
By Gunnar
Olson, Newberg
Graphic reporter
E-mail Gunnar at golson@eaglenewspapers.com
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The Newberg police and fire departments on Wednesday officially
recognized what Jennifer and Charles Jones of Newberg already knew:
Their 3-year-old daughter, Jasmine, is a hero.
A certificate of excellence was given to Jasmine for her actions on
May 5. That day she was the only other person home when Charles –
not her biological father but whom she calls daddy and who since a
car accident as a youth has been prone to seizures – suffered a
seizure. Jasmine put to practice the lessons her parents had
reviewed with her and called 9-1-1.
“9-1-1. What’s your emergency?” The scratchy recording
captures dispatcher Molly Schwartz’s pointed tone.
“Yeah,” said Jasmine quietly.
“Hello?”
“Yeah. Daddy’s having a seizure.”
“What’s your address? Do you know your address?”
“Yeah. 605 Andrew.”
It was enough to get a unit of responders to the house. That night
she was the lead story on the KGW-TV’s 11 o’clock news and within
the week she had been given front-page coverage in two local papers,
all accounts naming her a hero. A couple of weeks later, her mom
said, people on a beach at the coast recognized her by name and
deed.
Police and fire personnel have marveled over the precocious little
girl. “It was hard to believe she was 3,” Schwartz said, adding the
call from Jasmine was more easily handled than many she receives
from adults.
Jasmine’s heroics came as less of a surprise to her family, who,
calling her independent, pointed out that she’d been dressing
herself since before she was 3.
Her grandfather, William Nelson, who regularly is her caretaker,
was at the public safety building to attend the ceremony Thursday.
Asked if he was surprised at his granddaughter’s actions, he said,
“Oh no.” Whatever he’s doing she tags along, he said.
She steers the riding lawn mower while he sits behind, and when he’s
working on a car she hands him tools. “I knew she was smart, smart
for her age,” she said.
Jasmine danced through the parking lot and into the front doors of
the public safety building Wednesday. Once she was
in the lobby, where nearly a dozen men and women in police and
firefighter uniforms were waiting, she froze. She idolizes uniformed
servants of the land; she can quote the opening lines to “Cops” and
aspires to be a police officer herself.
In the council chambers Deputy Police Chief Brian Casey and Fire
Chief Michael Sherman crouched before Jasmine and presented her with
a plaque.
“I heard you’re a hero,” Casey said. “You know what a hero
is?”
Jasmine nodded her head.
Jasmine knew she had been invited to the police station to honor
her bravery, Charles said. Before the day was through, Jasmine would
accept a child-sized fire-department T-shirt, tour the dispatch
center and fire department, take a ride in a fire truck and get
driven home in a police car.
But in a room with many men and women who responded to her
9-1-1 call, Jasmine took a while to get comfortable. Her mother had
to remind her to give them the gifts she brought for them – American
flag pins. At the early stage of her visit, though, she could only
nod.
Sherman asked if she called 9-1-1 for her dad. She had. Sherman
then summarized for her what the certificate said and shook her
hand.
In its entirety the certificate reads: “On May 5, 2004, Jasmine
calmly and courageously called Newberg 9-1-1 dispatch center, and
clearly and correctly gave dispatcher Molly Schwartz her address and
her father’s medical condition.
“Jasmine’s ability to properly activate the 9-1-1 system was a
major contributor to saving her father’s life. On scene
firefighter/paramedics Tim Craig, Sonda Martin, Ron Pettijohn and
firefighter/EMTs Al Blodgett and Jeff Campbell confirmed Molly
Schwartz’s assessment that Jasmine showed a level of maturity that
was well beyond her 3 years of age.
"She is truly an incredible little girl.”
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From May
29,
2004, Newberg Graphic
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