Extraordinary 10-year-old girl saves grandfather's life during stroke

(ST. LOUIS, Mo.) – A 10-year-old St. Louis girl is being hailed as a hero after saving her grandfather as he had a stroke.

Steve Bolderson, 62, and his granddaughter Sophia Tabers were out shopping for groceries when Sophia noticed her grandfather exhibiting the warning signs and symptoms of a stroke.

"He dropped a bag of apples, my mom tried to ask him what was wrong," she said. "He looked confused and his face was strange. It looked like he could not pick anything up. When he tried to say something, we couldn't understand what he was saying. I knew what was going on when it started happening."

Tabers said she learned the symptoms and warning signs of a stroke after picking the topic for a school project. Her grandfather is really proud of her.

"She worked really hard on a science project for about six months and learned all she could about strokes and the different types. When she told my daughter I was having signs of a stroke, she knew more than my daughter," Bolderson said.

Tabers told her mother to call 911. Doctors said her quick actions helped save her grandfather's life.

"We have seen death from stroke," said Dr. Amer Alshekhlee, director of the stroke program at SSM DePaul Hospital. "By alerting her mother and alerting doctors in time allowed us to give him the right medication."

Tabers' grandfather said she's a hero and they now will have time to share many more memories.

"She's a hero to me. She will always be my hero. I guess they can learn from me and I can also learn from them," said Bolderson.