Hero honored

Belfair Elementary School student Isabelle Hill was paying attention last June when the North Mason Regional Fire Authority hosted its annual Safety Days at her school.

Now in the fifth grade, Hill recently was awakened by her grandfather, who said her grandmother was on the bathroom floor and wasn't breathing. Did she know how to perform CPR, he asked.

The answer was "yes," thanks to the instruction Hill received in June. She applied her new skill, but was unable to bring her grandmother back to life.

Hill was honored for her heroic attempt Friday at a school assembly. Members of the NMRFA showered her with praise and gifts, including two bouquets of flowers, a stuffed animal, an invitation to a lunch in her honor at the fire station and a future ride on a fire engine.

The announcement of that final gift elicited gasps from her classmates.

North Mason Regional Fire Authority Chief Beau Bakken told the students people tell him elementary students are too young to learn CPR – which was clearly not the case here.

"She paid attention, and she said, "I know it,' " he said.

The firefighters and paramedics will return to Belfair and Sand Hill elementary schools in June to teach the safety lessons again.