Photo: San Diego County Sheriff's Department
A six-year-old girl's heroic act earned her a "Medal of Distinguished Service" from the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.
Kallie Helton is the talk of her hometown after playing a crucial role in a search and rescue operation in Ramona.
"In my opinion she undoubtedly played a pivotal role in saving his life," Lt. Michael McNeil told CBS8 reporter Jeff Zevely. "Quite frankly, she did something that I am not confident most people, most adults would do."
The Sheriff Department's Search and Rescue team was looking for a missing man, a "71-year-old gentleman by the name of Tom Ashton," on Memorial Day.
Ashton suffers from Alzheimer's and was missing in the hills of Ramona for over five hours.
"We had a drone in the area and our drone was right over where he was and we could not see him because of the thick brush," said Ernie Cowan, the Search & Rescue division leader.
Pilot Tim Johnson was hovering right over the missing man but couldn't see him.
"This is probably the first time a girl that age has been that instrumental in locating somebody," said Johnson.
Kallie was visiting her grandparents when she sprung into action.
"She got right up and got the binoculars out and was yelling his name and she was determined to find him that day," said her aunt Kiki Bayisa. "His hat had flown off; his shoe was lost he was very weak and so Kallie got him some water."
"He heard her yelling out his name and he called back to her for help," said Lt. Michael McNeil. "Pretty incredible."
After calling 911, Ashton was moved to safety and treated for dehydration and exposure.
"It doesn't get any better than that. We've got a place for her in SAR when she wants to join," said Cowan.