by Steven Waite

A mum has thanked the strangers who stopped to help after her young daughter suffered a seizure in the street.

Sophie Brunt, of Hythe Road, Sittingbourne, said she did not know what she would have done had it not been for the actions of passers by.

The 21-year-old had been shopping with her cousin and was walking home at 1pm on Wednesday, when she noticed something was seriously wrong with her 20-month-old only child, Ruby-Louise.

"She was asleep in her pram and the next minute I looked at her and she was shaking. It was absolutely awful.

"She went all floppy and was not responding. It was very scary."

Sophie, who was near the junction of William Street and West Street, pleaded with people to help.

"I was panicking. I asked ‘Can someone help me?’ A lot of people looked at me and walked off.

"But a guy said he was a first aider and put her in the recovery position. He took his jacket off and put it over. He tried to talk to her but she was still out of it.

"Another lady who was a retired nurse pulled up on the pavement and she was checking her pulse."

Police and a paramedic arrived and an ambulance was called which took mum and daughter to Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham. After a lengthy wait in A&E, they returned home the same day.

The fit had caught Sophie by surprise because although Ruby-Louise had previously suffered from cerebral convulsions, or fits, it had always happened when she had been ill.

"They happen when her temperature gets too high. The last time she had one was in April when she had a virus. But on Wednesday, she hadn’t been ill at all."

So far, tests have proved inconclusive.

Sophie said she had booked a place on a British Red Cross first aid course next week for her and her partner, Tony West, 22, a property inspector, so they are better prepared.

"I just want to know what to do when she has a fit," she added.

Meanwhile, she thanked all that had helped. "I want to thank the people that did stop, particularly the two main people.

"They’ve both been in touch so I’ve been able to thank them personally. I don’t know what I would have done without them."