5-year-old Knoxville girl helps save her baby sister’s life

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - A few weeks ago, a Knoxville woman’s one-year-old daughter stopped breathing because of an issue with her breathing tube, but her five-year-old sister was in the right place at the right time to help save the day.

Kamerie Littlejohn was born prematurely and spent more than a year in the NICU.

“A lot of us, including nurses and some doctors, didn’t think Kamerie was going to make it out of here,” Kamerie’s mother, Anitra Littlejohn, said.

To do it safely, doctors at East Tennessee Children’s Hospital gave Kamerie a trachea breathing tube, something she can’t live without.

“When we came home, we had no nursing. It was just me, my husband, and Emerie,” Anitra said.

Anitra said doctors and nurses trained them on how to change the breathing tube, something they didn’t want to do in an emergency. But that happened a couple of weeks ago.

“I looked over at her oxygen saturation levels, and they went down to 69,” Anitra said. “And I was like, ‘oh no something’s wrong’. And her lips started to turn blue.”

Anitra’s husband wasn’t home. It was just her and Emerie. Anitra said she called for her help from the other room.

“‘Emerie come here for a second. Can you help me?’” Anitra said. “She was like, ‘what do you want me to do?’ I was like, ‘remember how we practiced? I need you to be able to pull the trach out, and I have to put one back in, can you do that for me?’ She was like ‘yeah, let’s go.’”

Luckily, nurses at the hospital taught them how to do it ahead of time. Emerie also called 911 to get professional help as soon as possible.

“So proud of her. She helped me save Kamerie’s life,” Anitra said.

Emerie said she just wanted to help.

“Because I just love my baby sissy,” Emerie said.

East Tennessee Children’s Hospital is hosting a tracheostomy airway management class on Feb. 27. It’s a free class open to parents and healthcare professionals that want to learn about trachea breathing tubes.