A five-year-old Hampshire girl has been praised for saving her mother’s life after she was struck down by meningitis.

Gracie Cavall, of Lymington, alerted her grandmother Rosie after her mum Amy started feeling ill and passed out.

Gracie picked up the phone, put the PIN number in and scrolled down Amy’s contact list until she came to “Mum”.

Amy said: “She phoned her nana and told her she couldn’t wake me up. She even told her that she had locked the front door and to shout through the letterbox when she got there so she would know it was her.”

Rosie rushed round and took Amy to Lymington New Forest Hospital. She was transferred to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, where meningitis was diagnosed.

Amy was so ill she had to stay in hospital for eight days but has since made a full recovery.

“The doctor said if Gracie hadn’t phoned somebody I probably wouldn’t have woken up. I feel really proud of her,” she said.

Gracie is a pupil at Lymington Infant School.

A school spokesman said: “Amy came into school to tell us how Gracie came to her rescue in what was potentially a very serious situation. Her teacher, Caroline Hayden, is very proud of her.”