Hero Brownies in Nairn receive top GirlGuiding award for their 'amazing' bravery
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Two young heroes have been presented with a rare award for their "amazing" bravery when the father of one of them died after collapsing in front of them as they were returning home after a Brownie meeting.
Hannah Roddie (10) and her friend Aayla-Rose Chemonges-Fuller (9), of Ardersier, are the first members of the GirlGuiding movement in Inverness-shire to receive a Scottish Chief Commissioner’s Thistle award.
Introduced a couple of years ago, just a handful are presented each year to those who have demonstrated outstanding bravery, overcome personal challenges or were responsible during a specific incident.
Hannah’s dad, Alan Roddie, died in May aged 40, after picking up the two girls at the end of their meeting at 1st Cawdor Brownies.
Hannah’s mum Lesley Smith explained how they were walking back to the car when he collapsed on the village green.
Initially, they were on their own, but fortunately a Guide mother spotted what was happening.
"They were only on their own for a short time, but it must have felt like a long time," Ms Smith said.
"She told the girls to look for help and to flag down any cars.
"They tried to look for help while she was on the telephone to the ambulance. They were amazing."
As events turned out, Ms Smith had become aware they were late in returning home, and her’s was the first car to arrive at the scene where she began to administer CPR to her partner along with others until paramedics arrived.
A former member of the Red Cross, her father was in the ambulance service for 35 years and her mother was a nurse and she went into "organised" mode.
Sadly, despite everyone’s efforts including the use of a defibrillator, Mr Roddie passed away at the scene.
Praising the two girls, she said: "I was unbelievably proud of them.
"They were so calm and it was obviously very distressing, but they were very level-headed.
"They were totally together and certainly, I think, showed a maturity beyond their ages – they were more together than some adults would have been in the same situation.
"I, and the family, are very proud of them for getting this award and getting recognition having done what they did.
"Obviously, I would far rather we were not in this position in the first place. No one would wish it."
She thanked everyone for all their help and efforts after Mr Roddie collapsed including PC Lisa Cran, the police officer who attended the scene.
"She really connected with the girls and made sure they were away from everything going on," she said.
Mr Roddie was an audit manager for Scottish and Southern Energy.
He was a passionate football fan and a supporter of Motherwell and an active member of Forres and Nairn Welfare Football Association.
As well as Hannah, Mr Roddie also left a son, Thomas, who is nine.
Ms Smith reflected: "He has left a huge gap for all of us – his mum and dad live around the corner and his sister too."
The presentation to Hannah – who has now moved up into Guides – and Aayla-Rose was attended by GirlGuiding’s Scottish chief commissioner Moria McKenna and Suzanne Docherty, county commissioner for Inverness-shire plus members of the emergency services.
A citation from the 1st Cawdor Brownies stated: "As a team, the leaders of the unit were so impressed with how the two girls dealt with such a situation we felt the girls deserved recognition of their bravery and decided to apply for the Scottish Chief Commissioner’s Thistle award.
"We are still in awe of their actions on the night of getting help so quickly and all feel that our younger selves would have struggled to be so brave and focused. The girls are true heroes."
Brownies enjoy coffee-with-a-cop
