Kids and dog hailed as heroes for saving mom's life

FORT BRAGG, North Carolina -- Two Fort Bragg children are taking after their hero dad. They're being praised for saving their mom's life.

Samantha Decker is a full-time mother of two very active elementary school children. She also struggles with Type 1 diabetes and depends on her insulin pump to stay alive.

While that device usually alerts her family whenever her sugar or insulin gets low, Monday night, the device failed.

"I said 'wake-up, Mommy,'" Brooklynn, 5, explained.

Her mother wasn't sleeping. She was in a diabetic coma.

"Nicholas had took a picture of me laying in bed and it was a really eerie looking picture," said Samantha Decker.

Nicholas, who's on the autism spectrum, immediately sent the photo to his grandmother who called 911 right away.

"I had to show Grandma what happened to Mommy," said 8-year-old Nicholas.

Meanwhile, Brooklynn picked up her iPad and sent the same photo to their dad who was away in Indiana for training with his unit, the 44th Medical Brigade of the 18th Airborne Corps.

"It was a pretty terrifying moment. You never expect to see that kind of picture from a 5-year-old. At that moment I was kind of helpless, "Staff Sgt. Brandon Decker said.

Thankfully, help was on the way and nearby. The family's dog, Baxter, never left Samantha's side.

"Baxter kind of stayed with me on the bed. Baxter is a very timid dog. He is scared," Samantha said.

But fear wasn't an option for the Decker kids.

"I was brave, like Nicholas," Brooklyn said.

The Decker family plans to further train their children on recognizing the medical symptoms associated with diabetes. Additionally, they're looking for someone to train Baxter to become a Diabetic Support Dog.