THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504180083
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Like most parents, Robert Levin wondered if his talks on safety were really getting through to his 5-year-old daughter, Missy.
On March 27, Levin discovered Missy had been listening far more intently than he had ever realized.
That Monday afternoon, Missy and her grandmother, Hilda Levin, took a walk through their Ocean View neighborhood to visit some friends. Missy rode her bicycle, and Hilda, who was baby-sitting her granddaughter, walked alongside.
After a couple blocks, however, 63-year-old Hilda began to feel faint. As the two approached a concrete driveway, Hilda realized she could go no further. Grabbing onto a nearby pole for support, she told her granddaughter she had to stop.
A few seconds later, Hilda passed out, fell to the ground and hit her head on the pavement.
Seeing Hilda splayed across the driveway, out cold, Missy began to cry and beg her grandma to wake up.
When she didn't, Missy remembered what her father had almost told her: Get help.
Still crying, the 5-year-old ran to a nearby apartment and asked the residents to call 911. Within minutes, a rescue squad had come to Hilda's aid.
``None of us had any idea that she knew enough to do this,'' a bedridden Hilda said two weeks later, still recovering from surgery in Sentara Leigh Hospital. ``I'm just so proud of her.''
A little shy from all the attention, Missy held tight to a stuffed Barney and explained, simply: ``My Daddy told me to do something if something happened. I tried not to cry ... but I was so scared. Grandma is my best friend.''
During the last six months, Missy and Grandma have been inseparable. After a recent divorce and bankruptcy, Robert Levin lost his Virginia Beach home and moved with his only daughter into an Ocean View duplex downstairs from his parents.
When not working as a vendor for the Navy Exchange system, Hilda cares for her granddaughter. During the day, the two play games, take walks, draw pictures and watch Missy's favorite TV show, ``Barney.''
``We have lots of fun,'' the talkative preschooler with brown eyes and shoulder-length hair said.
``The two of them have a special relationship,'' her father said. ``They're very close.''
But in recent weeks, Hilda has not felt well. Even before the March 27 incident, doctors had scheduled her for an outpatient colonoscopy early in April. When she passed out, they discovered she had contracted pneumonia and hospitalized her immediately. She had surgery a week later.
``I had no idea I was that sick,'' Hilda said. ``The doctors told me I was bleeding internally when I passed out. All I remember is that, when I came to, the neighbors were telling me Missy had said to call for help.''
When Hilda's husband, Kenneth Levin, found out what his granddaughter had done, he was relieved but not that surprised.
``Missy is the most beautiful little kid inside,'' he said. ``She'll do anything to help others.''
``This kid's got a heart and a half,'' family friend Scott Hessek said. ``She really pulls at your heart strings. At Hanukkah last year, she even volunteered to give away her favorite rocking horse to a friend's kid because he was having money problems. Now, remember, Missy didn't have a whole, lot either.''
In Grandma's eyes, though, Missy will always be her lifesaver.
``She really came through,'' the silver-haired woman said through melting eyes. ``I'm not sure if I take care of her or she takes care of me. I just know we're a team.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Hilda Levin enjoys a hospital visit from her granddaughter, Missy
Levin, 5, who ran for help on March 27 after her grandmother passed
out.
by CNB