Three-year-old calls 9-1-1 for horse-riding mom

SCHELL CITY-- A Schell City woman was seriously injured and unable to call for help after falling off her horse here, but her 3-year-old daughter called 9-1-1 and helped bring a Vernon County Ambulance District crew to the scene.

Gina Ensor had surgery at a Joplin hospital and returned home, although she will need additional surgery, Sheriff Ron Peckman said Friday.

Peckman said Ensor's 3-year-old daughter Sadie made the call as her mother told her how, then Ensor talked to a Western Missouri 911 Dispatch Center dispatcher to give directions to the 3 p.m. Tuesday accident scene.

"In a way, it didn't surprise me because kids are growing up so fast and there is so much information presented to them," the sheriff said. "Years ago, you would have probably never expected it.

"But 9-1-1 is your lifeline today and a lot of kids know that."