A PROUD dad is hailing his five-year-old daughter a hero for saving his life after he fell into a diabetic coma.

Brave Holly Price found the 47-year-old builder slumped downstairs and calmly injected him in the stomach with glucagon.

Barry Barkess, who has been insulin dependent for 33 years, had fallen into a hypoglycemic coma at around 1.30am on Saturday at his home in Stanley, County Durham, and was unconscious.

“I must have passed out on the settee and the bairn has woken up and found out I wasn’t in bed and come down," he said.

“She has found me and tried to wake me up. I remember her shaking my face.

“I stood up and fell back down again because you have got no use in your limbs. I was crawling into the kitchen, but she knew what to do.”

Mr Barkess, and Holly’s mother, Sandra, who are separated, have taught their daughter that her father needs an injection from the fridge if he becomes unwell.

But the youngster, a year one pupil, at Shield Row Primary School, has never had to put the vital first aid training into practice.

Holly calmly went to the fridge, got her daddy’s glucagon injection kit and injected him in the stomach.

She then called her mother on his mobile phone and played computer games until she arrived and her dad regained consciousness.

Mr Barkess, of Newburn Road, Shield Row, said: “It probably would have killed me if she was not there.

“I have been living on my own for almost two years and she has never had to deal with anything like this.

“For her to come along out of the blue and remember everything is amazing.

“I am overwhelmed that the information Sandra and I gave Holly has been understood and acted on at such a young age.”

Mr Barkess regained consciousness after around 15minutes and Holly was sitting next to him with her mother who made him jam sandwiches to boost his blood sugar levels.

He added: “It is a bit frightening, the more I think about it. This could have been a bad episode. I am very proud of my daughter for being so calm and carrying out her actions with such a good attitude.

“This act of bravery by her has probably saved my life or stopped me from having life-threatening complications.”