Karen with her grandmother, Heather Lewis

Brave six-year-old Karen Lewis was today thanked by her grandmother for saving her life after picking up vital warning signs that she was having a stroke – because of an advert on TV.

The youngster, from Shrewsbury, knew immediately from the look on her beloved nanna’s face that something was not right.

She ran to a neighbour’s house for assistance before calling 999 for help.

Disabled Heather Lewis, 63, was on the stairs of her home in Grinshill Drive, Shrewsbury, when she suddenly was unable to lift her arms. Her speech began to slur and her face drooped to one side.

Luckily for her granddaughter Karen was close by and realised what was happening. As Mrs Lewis’s daughter Cheryl , who is also disabled, and husband Des struggled to get her down the stairs, Karen ran immediately outside to call for assistance from a neighbour.

Then, she ran back to the house to start dialling 999 for an ambulance.

Mrs Lewis today paid tribute to her “little star” and said she owed the six-year-old her life.

She said: “I went dizzy and I started to fall. My daughter managed to grab me. My granddaughter said ‘nanny stay still I think you’re like the TV advert, you need an ambulance’.

“If it wasn’t for Karen I don’t think I would be here now. I am really proud of her. I think she has saved my life. She’s so brave and she’s a little star.”

The grandmother said she was also grateful to the TV advert which describes the tell-tale signs of a stroke and what to do; which are facial weakness, arm weakness, speech problems and time to call 999. They are remembered under the shorthand abbreviation FAST.

Cheryl said that after her daughter began calling an ambulance she managed to take over the telephone and instruct call centre staff before paramedics arrived moments later.

Following the incident on Saturday, April 26, Mrs Lewis was taken to hospital where she was found to have suffered a mini-stroke.

Tiny heroine Karen said she was enjoying her Easter chocolate when the drama unfolded. She said: “I was holding Easter eggs at the top of the stairs. Nanny started to talk funny and she looked like the advert.”

By Russell Roberts