A twelve-year-old La Broquerie girl was recognized by the Red Cross on Tuesday morning for her actions during a house fire.

Emily Neufeld said she was at home with her two brothers, eight-year-old Jamie and four-year-old Levi on March 2. Neufeld said she got off the phone with her mom to start her chores, when she smelled something strange on her way downstairs.

“As soon as I got into the basement, I saw my entire bathroom was engaged in fire,” Neufeld said. “At that moment I was super panicked.”

She ran upstairs to grab her brothers and pets to get them out of the house as quickly as possible. Once outside, Neufeld called 911.

The three children, a dog and a cat made it out unharmed. One cat died in the fire.

Neufeld attributes her actions to the Red Cross babysitting course she took.

She said the most important thing she took away from the class was that lives matter more than things.

“Without the babysitting course, I probably wouldn’t have known what to do and everything would have gone way differently,” she said.

In a school assembly Tuesday morning at Arborgate School in La Broquerie, Sian Proulx, a member of the Canadian Red Cross prevention and safety team, presented Neufeld with the Red Cross Rescuer Award for her efforts that saved lives. Proulx also awarded Neufeld with a new babysitter certificate to replace the original that was destroyed in the house fire.

“Getting to hear the story about her taking a training class with us and then remembering all the skills she needed and stayed calm and actually put them into work was awesome to hear,” said Proulx. “I’m so proud of her.”

Proulx said the award ceremony was emotional to be a part of. She hopes others will be inspired by Neufeld’s actions to enroll in training courses no matter their age.

The babysitting course covers basic first aid, including how to treat cuts and burns, chest only compressions and how and when to call 911 along with other emergency services that may need to be contacted. Participants are also taught what toys and food are appropriate for children of different ages and how to care for them.

“It proves to the kids that they can be superheroes too and it’s not just the adults,” said Proulx.