5-Year-Old Trenton Girl Aids Heart Attack Stricken Father

As 45-year-old Sam Delagarza of Trenton lay on his floor grasping his chest in late April, he called out for help from his 5-year-old daughter.

Confused and scared, Delagarza told Amelianna to get his cell phone, and just a few seconds later she appeared before him with cell phone in hand.

"She came right back with it and I go, 'Oh, thank God,'" Delagarza said.

Soon emergency personnel were scurrying about Delagarza's house on the 3300 block of Hickory Court, but not before Amelianna unlocked the front door.

Delagarza was home watching his daughter and 14-month-old son, Santos, when he began to feel "cramping" in his chest. He said he began sweating profusely and was amazed his daughter was able to get him the help he needed—and fast.

"I was watching cartoons and suddenly dad called me to get the phone and I didn't know why," Amelianna said.

A truck driver and former Marine, Delagarza said he'd experienced the same "cramping" in his chest in January 2006 when he suffered his first heart attack.

"I was trying not to make it look like anything bad was going on," Delagarza said.

After receiving his cell phone from his daughter, Delagarza called his wife, Laurie, 42, who then called emergency services. He was rushed to Oakwood Southshore Medical Center, where he received a second stent in his heart.

"I told them daddy wasn't feeling good," Amelianna said.

Despite his healthy lifestyle, doctors told Delagarza he had blockage in his heart which caused both of his heart attacks.

Fully recovered, Delagarza said he owes his life to his daughter and the responding emergency medical technicians.

"She never got scared," Delagarza said. "I never heard her cry."