LOOKING back to the week that was August 7 to August 13, five years ago.
A LITTLE girl who dialled 999 as her mum lay unconscious bleeding from a head wound was praised by police in August 2018.
Quick-thinking Mila Dobby stayed calm and raised the alarm when her mother fell and banged her head.
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The four-year-old’s swift actions, coupled with the patience of the call handler, meant police officers arrived at the scene and were able to help Ellen Oselton following her fall in Consett, on April 30, 2018.
On August 10, 2018, Mila, her mother Ellen, father Liam Dobby and brother Fraser Dobby, visited the Durham Constabulary headquarters to meet with call operator, Jane Metcalfe.
Superintendent Colin Williamson said: “At first it was unclear if the call was a hoax.
“It sounded like a child playing on the line which means it could be disconnected to free up the line for other emergencies.
“After great questioning and patience by the call handler it became apparent that the child’s mother was injured.”
Ms Oselton, 24, suffers from hypoglycaemia which affects her blood sugar levels and this is believed to be the reason behind her fall.
She said: “I was going up the stairs and I collapsed and split my head open.
“I think I was unconscious for about forty minutes. If she hadn’t called 999, it might have been a different story.
“I needed medicine to correct the level of glucose in my blood.”
During the six-minute call, the operator can be heard questioning Mila in an attempt to find out what is wrong.
When asked if her mother is okay, Mila tells the operator: “She’s lying on the stairs and she’s asleep.
“She has a big bleed on her head.”
Firefighters had to knock down a wall to rescue a security worker who got trapped inside a former bank while filling up a cash machine, on August 6, 2018.
The crew made a hole in the front of the old Natwest building, in Ferryhill, so the man could escape.
Police remained at the scene during the hour-long rescue operation, after which all cash was removed.
It is understood that the G4S employee was working on the ATM inside the branch, which shut in June but still provides a cash machine.
When he was unable to get out, emergency services were called in to help.
A spokesperson for Durham Police said: “Police attended Natwest bank in Market Street, Ferryhill, at around 9.30pm on August 6, 2018, following reports that a G4S employee had become locked inside the building while working on the cash machine.
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Darlington was a letter to its twin town Amiens as the French town marked the centenary of the First World War battle which changed the course of the conflict, in August 2018.
Councillor Tom Nutt, chair of the Darlington Town Twinning and International Association, sent the town’s best wishes to its twin French town, saying: “Rest assured the thoughts of us all in Darlington are with you on this historic anniversary of the famous battle, on August 8 1918.”
Darlington’s links with Amiens go back to 1953 and the towns were believed to have initially been linked because of their railway heritage.
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