At just one year and seven months, little Gaviann Johnson is already being hailed as a hero and a lifesaver.

Family members say the toddler, who only knows a few words, saved the life of her granduncle who had suffered a stroke and fainted, hitting his face on a piece of furniture.

Gaviann's grandaunt and wife of the injured man, Dalsie Buchanan, told THE STAR that on Monday, everyone at home was outside while she tended to her flower garden. She said her husband, Hilton, went to use the bathroom and Gaviann, always his companion, went inside with him. Minutes later, a frantic child returned. "She came back outside and she said to me, 'granddad bottom'. I thought she was saying that granddad spanked her so I said to her 'ok, I'm gonna go inside and spank granddad for you'. When I said that she started to cry and said, 'granddad hurt'."

Realising that something must be wrong, Buchanan said she went into the house and was greeted by a trail of *lo**. After initially walking past her husband, who was lying in a sofa, she found him bleeding from cuts to his forehead, nose and lips.

fainted

The 85-year-old was taken to the Mandeville Regional Hospital where it was discovered that he had suffered a stroke. Buchanan said her husband fainted while in the bathroom, but managed to crawl outside, before fainting again. This erratic behaviour, they presume, caught the child's attention and made her realise that something was wrong.

Buchanan is grateful for her grandniece's alertness and the fact that she used her limited vocabulary to get the family's attention. She said, "If she did not come to us, maybe he would have perished. She couldn't tell us word for word, but she tried."

She said Gaviann, who stays with her and her husband most of the time, has a very close relationship with her granduncle, to the point where she thinks of him as her grandfather. "They have a bond, you know. He spends quality time with her. He reads to her. They are very, very close."

She told THE STAR that from his hospital bed, her husband sent a message to Gaviann. "He told me, 'I don't know if I will live to see her again, but tell her granddad loves her'." Gaviann has also been missing her 'granddad' and realises that he is not at home. Buchanan said, "He usually turns down the bed. So I went into the room to do it and she came with me. When she didn't see him, she cried and said granddad gone to hospital, 'granddad drop and bleed'." It is also obvious that she misses him greatly as THE STAR was told that she often wanders into his room and calls for him.