When reliving the moments between Jen Hentges’ collapse from an allergic reaction and the arrival of the ambulances, 5-year-old Gabbie Hentges doesn’t like to focus on her own acts of heroism that almost certainly saved her mom’s life.

Gabbie was worried about one the small thing: “We kind of left the door open and let some of the air out,” she said.

She left the door to her family’s Spring Lake Township door open while waiting for ambulances to arrive.

After a short laugh, Jen said that she probably tells the girls all the time to close the door behind them.

It was an emergency situation, the girls’ 14-year-old brother, Michael, explained, so it was OK.

And it was an emergency that Gabbie and her 4-year-old sister, Sophie, had to handle on their own. The two had the calmness and smarts to call 911 when their mom had an allergic reaction to a bee sting last week.

A BEE BEHIND HER

The two girls and their mom were spending most of the day outside, Jen said, and it was just past noon when she noticed something wasn’t quite right.

“I realized that my chest started getting really tight,” she said.

“There was a bee behind her,” Sophie said.

Allergic to both bees and walnuts, Jen went to find her epinephrine – her epi-pen – to stop the inflammation caused by the allergic reaction. That’s the last thing she remembers.

“I guess I lost consciousness,” she said.

HARD, WOOD FLOOR

Gabbie said her mom had gone inside and sat down in a chair while Gabbie was by the phone. Jen told Gabbie to call for help, and then she fell out of her chair.

“That started to get me worried – when you landed on the hard, wood floor,” Gabbie said.

But she knew that there wasn’t any cut on her mom’s head, and she knew that she had been told to call for help. But her dad was out fishing, and Gabbie didn’t know his phone number.

“I’m glad that you didn’t call daddy,” Jen said. “Did you know that you saved Mama? You’re Mama’s hero. Did you know that?”

DIALING 9-1-1

Jen, a former emergency dispatcher, said she knew how important it was for kids to know what to do in case of an emergency. And for the past couple of years, she’s been working with her girls to teach them to call 911 if something happens and there isn’t an adult around.

Gabbie dialed and told the woman on the other end of the phone that they lived in Jordan and that they needed an ambulance. Then Sophie went outside to be the lookout for the police who were going to be arriving.

“The medic said if they hadn’t called right away, I would have died,” Jen said.

IN THE HOSPITAL

The next thing Jen remembers is coming back to consciousness while the sheriff’s deputy was already there. She said they brought her to St. Francis Regional Medical Center in Shakopee to make sure she was all right. While she was there, they told her about the girls saving her life.

“They stayed very calm, I guess, on the phone,” Jen said.

The sheriff ended up finding what looked like a bee sting on the back of her neck, Jen said. They figured that was why the reaction spread so quickly to her chest – because the sting was so close and in a sensitive area.

A HERO’S WELCOME

As if their mom-saving heroics weren’t enough, Gabbie and Sophie earned a special treat from their parents as a recognition for what they did – a trip to Valley Fair amusement park in Shakopee.