Miranda Craig was unconscious for almost 40 minutes, and during most of that time, Dorothy was speaking to a 911 dispatcher.
The recording began at approximately 2:20 p.m. Wednesday. Dispatcher Lela Holley answered the call.
“Liberty County 911,” Holley can be heard saying. “You need police, fire or ambulance?”
For the first several minutes, you can hear Dorothy crying, “Mama! Mama!” and her 5-month old little brother crying in the background.
The little voice is clearly scared as she tries to help her unresponsive mom.
“This was probably one of the most unique calls that we’ve had the privilege of receiving here at the Sheriff’s Department,” said Cpt. Ken DeFoor with the Liberty County Sheriff’s Office. “All the child was saying was ‘Mama.' Our dispatcher, Lelah Holly, very calmly and collectively and slowly tried to lead the little girl into a proper conversation.”
“Honey, I need you to try and calm down a little bit so I hear and understand you,” Holley is heard saying on the 911 tape. “How old are you?”
Dorothy answers, “3.”
“Is your mom sick or hurt?” Holley asks.
“Yes," Dorothy answers.
The toddler didn’t know her address, so deputies worked fast to ping the cell phone Dorothy was calling from. They were able to narrow it down to County Road 386 in Liberty County.
“The deputies started running up and down County Road 386, talking to people, looking in houses, knocking on doors," DeFoor said. “Everyone and this agency has children or grandchildren…we relate to that. You become their mother and father over the telephone...you literally do.”
After almost 40 minutes of deputies going door to door, Cpl. Darrell Werner knocked on little Dorothy’s.
“I think I hear Darrell,” Holley can be heard telling a colleague on the 911 tape.
Miranda Craig is grateful for her daughter's quick thinking, as Dorothy's two-year-old and five-month-old siblings were left unattended during the incident.