‘MY LITTLE GIRLS SAVED MY LIFE'

Thanks to their first-aid knowledge, Alia and Aaya knew exactly what to do to rescue their dad

- Ruth McCarthy

Beaming nine-year-old Alia and six-year-old Aaya could barely wipe the smiles off their faces as they stood tall, reaching out to clutch the certificate their dad was about to give them.

They’ve always adored their father Maji Toufaili but ever since they saved his life, nothing could forge a more lasting bond. It was a normal Wednesday evening on November 4, 2020, when the father-of-three – who also has three-year-old daughter Mia – was winding down for the night.

“I was about to hit the sack when I started to feel strange,” Maji tells Woman’s Day from his Craigieburn home in Victoria.

“I sat on the edge of the bed and my whole face started to twitch, and when I went to speak, no words would come out.”

Maji’s wife Rola, 45, grabbed her mobile phone, and rising from their slumber, the girls wondered what all the commotion was.

With his face paralysed, the 48-year-old transport fleet supervisor struggled to convey his worrying symptoms.

“Rola doesn’t speak fluent English, so it was down to the girls to call triple zero,” Maji explains. “My eyes were wide with fear and my heart racing.

“But the girls were cool as cucumbers. Rola gave me a pen and paper and I jotted down what was wrong with me, and Alia dialled triple zero.”