Listen to Joann Jones talk about her granddaughter and adopted daughter, Summer, and the pride is apparent.

The energetic eight-year-old is a stellar student at Fountain Hills Charter School where she recently brought home the Noon Kiwanis Terrific Kid award and something really special, a “life saver” certificate (complete with a package of gummie Lifesavers).

Joann knows well of Summer’s heroics on Dec. 17, when the young girl saved her life.

Friends, family, teachers and firefighters all have great praise for the way Summer reacted when Joann slipped into a diabetic coma early that morning.

Summer recalls feeling her mother start kicking the side of the bed and she asked if she was all right. Summer heard a moan and then her mother started to cry – a clear sign something was wrong.

Summer’s first reaction was to call family, so she grabbed her mother’s personal phone directory and started calling family in Arkansas. She was told to call 911 for help.

Summer made two more calls, one to her music teacher and another to a cousin, before setting off to a neighbor’s home to get help.

“I can imagine what (the neighbor) was thinking with someone knocking on the door at 3 a.m.,” Joann said.

“Summer knows how to call 911 for help; I think she just wanted someone to support her.”

Joann remembers none of this. She recalls starting to wake up and seeing people all around the room.

“I’m thinking this is not good,” Joann said.

Fire Capt. Don Deasy led the crew on duty at the time.

“When we got there we found (Joann) was unconscious in her bed,” Deasy said. “Her eight-year-old daughter and two ladies who are neighbors were also on scene.

“If (Summer) had not done what she did, (Joann) may not have survived based on her medical condition.”

On Friday, Jan. 3, firefighters in Fountain Hills will present Summer with a certificate to commend her for her action.

Joann said she did not want to go to the hospital and the doctor communicating with medics said she could stay home as long as she made sure she was eating enough and getting medication.

The two neighbors fixed some breakfast for Joann, and she said the medics remained to make sure she ate before they left.

Joann believes that since she had been sick recently she did not get enough to eat, and that triggered the attack.

“I thought I was eating enough,” she said. “I guess I wasn’t.”

Tuesday evening Summer was participating in a music recital at school. During the event, which Joann was unable to attend, teachers singled out Summer and praised her for her actions, which brought a warm reaction from the audience.

“I am still totally amazed at what this eight-year-old did,” Joann said. “She did everything right.”

Joann and Summer are as close as a mother and daughter can be. They have a close network of family, mostly out of state, and good friends close by, but they depend on one another.

“You take care of me, and I take care of you,” Joann says.

Summer and Joann Jones happily look forward to Christmas after Summer took action that saved Joann from a diabetic coma.