Dispatcher Hailed Hero For Helping Deaf Woman's Mother

VIDEO: NASHVILLE, TN - A Clarksville woman is grateful to a 911 dispatcher who got help to her Deaf mother Monday night. Lisa Prichard lives in Clarksville and was home when her mother texted her that something was wrong.



Prichard was able to video call her mother Joy Gournaris, 68, at Gournaris' Antioch home. "She was confused, she didn't understand what was going on and was getting ready to pass out," Prichard said.



Prichard knew if she tried to drive to her mother's home from Clarksville it would take her an hour. She was also concerned because it appeared her mother was having a stroke and every second counted.

Prichard kept her mother on video phone and called 911 from her Clarksville home. Clarksville's 911 center transferred her to Nashville where 911 Dispatcher Lori Bentley took over the phone call.



"While, I'm communicating with sign language with my mother I was talking to the dispatcher," Prichard said. "I had to really be calm and think about what I was saying. I wanted to cry and scream, but I stayed calm for my mother."



The video relay system Gournaris uses has a 911 emergency component that allows her to make emergency calls... Read more: http://www.wkrn.com/story/20538233/operator-praised-for-helping-woman-get-help-to-deaf-mother