When 10-year-old Aspyn Osse of Cudahy noticed her grandmother was sweating profusely, slurring her words and slumping in her seat at the kitchen table after the two sat down for a snack, she didn’t panic.
She took action and put the lifesaving skills she learned in Girl Scouts to use.
Osse immediately grabbed ice packs and put them on her grandmother to cool her temperature. When grandma stopped responding, Aspyn called her mother, Rebecca Osse, who called 911 and told Aspyn to tell her grandfather.
“I was scared and nervous, but all that was going through my mind was, ‘I need to save my grandma,’” Aspyn, a Girl Scout Junior , told the Journal Sentinel.
Aspyn stayed on the phone with her mother and provided live updates to the 911 dispatchers through her mom while trying to wake her grandma, Harriet Miller, and keep her panicking grandpa calm.
“Since I was a Girl Scout Daisy, my favorite badges have always been first aid style badges,” she said. “I started to learn when my sister Sydney was a Girl Scout, and I came along. Girl Scouts are told to always be prepared, so I know this training helped in an emergency.”
Once paramedics arrived, Aspyn guided them through the house to her grandma, who was taken to the hospital.
Aspyn stayed in the hospital with her grandmother until she was released.
“Aspyn’s quick action and calm bravery in the face of an emergency saved her grandmother from entering septic shock and organ failure while she dealt with severe dehydration and low blood pressure,” a news release from the Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast said.
For her quick thinking and actions during her grandmother's medical emergency in April 2024, Aspyn was awarded the Girl Scouts of the USA National Lifesaving Medal of Honor on June 26 during a special ceremony at Camp Silver Brook in West Bend.
“Earning the Medal of Honor is a testament to the highest principles of the Girl Scout Promise and Law ― to be resourceful and skilled and to be in service to others,” Ana Simpson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, said in a statement. “We could not be prouder of Aspyn’s courage, confidence, and character in the face of danger.”
Aspyn's mom, and Girl Scout troop leader, said she was also proud of her daughter utilizing the lifesaving skills she’d been taught for years ― such as basic first aid including cooling off a person who is too hot and warming someone too cold with extra blankets.
“She is a truly remarkable young Girl Scout who kept calm,” Rebecca Osse said. “We learned that in a fight or flight situation, she is definitely a fighter.”
The lifesaving awards have been part of Girl Scouts since the organization’s founding in the United States in 1912, according to GSUSA. The awards are given to girls from 5 to 17 years old “who have heroically saved or attempted to save a life, demonstrating skills and judgement beyond the degree of maturity and training to be expected at their age,” the news release said.
There are two awards:
- Lifesaving Bronze Cross – given for saving a life or attempting to save a life when there is risk to someone’s own life.
- Lifesaving Medal of Honor – given to those who save or attempt to save someone else’s life without risk to their own.
Emily Roethle, director of marketing and communications for Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast, said GSUSA has only given out about 500 of these awards nationwide in the last 25 years.
Aspyn received a framed personal letter from the CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA Bonnie Barczykowski along with a medal which can be pinned to her Girl Scouts sash.
“On behalf of the entire Girl Scout Movement, I want to congratulate you for earning one of the highest honors in Girl Scouting: The Medal of Honor,” Barczykowski wrote. “Through your willingness to take decisive action in the midst of an emergency, you have not only attempted to save a life but also served as an example for all Girl Scouts. I commend you for your heroism and quick thinking.”
Aspyn said she wants to bring this lifesaving knowledge to others at her school and hopes to one day become a doctor herself.
“When I work on my Bronze Award next school year, I want to do a first aid fair for kids at my school to teach the importance of first aid,” she said. “Later, I want to be a family doctor, just like my hero, Dr. Nancy Nguyen, our family doctor.”
Contact Erik S. Hanley at erik.hanley@jrn.com . Like his Facebook page, The Redheadliner , and follow him on X @Redheadliner .
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 10-year-old Girl Scout from Cudahy wins lifesaving award for saving her grandmother's life
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