14 DAY TRIAL // A two-year-old boy from Leicestershire saved his mother’s life by calling emergency services when she collapsed to the floor. Riley Ward called 999 and told the operators, “Mummy’s on the floor!”
The toddler is only just learning to talk, but when his mom Dana Henry collapsed in their family home on February 5, the boy knew something was wrong and dialed 999. He managed to tell operators that his mom fell ill in his own way.
“Mummy’s asleep.” “Mummy's on the floor,” he said when he rang the emergency service.
Operators passed the call to the ambulance service, that traced the address. Soon after, paramedics arrived at the family’s house in Barrow-Upon-Soar, Leicestershire, where they found Dana Henry in poor condition.
They took her to Leicester Royal Infirmary, where she had to undergo emergency surgery, as the doctors discovered a large blood clot and dangerous bleed on her ovary.
The 27-year-old mother explained that, on that morning, she had woken up with stomach pains and fell to the floor after making a cup of tea.
The woman, who lives with her partner Rob Ward, added that they were both very surprised to realize the little boy actually rang to call for help when he saw his mother was in trouble.
However, the toddler’s initiative is the result of his parents’ good teaching, as Dana and Rob, who also have a 5-year-old daughter, have always told them they should call 999 if ever they could not wake either of them.
“Rob was just as surprised as I was when we realized Riley had dialed 999, we had drilled it into both of our children since they were old enough to understand numbers. They know that if mummy and daddy are poorly and they can't wake us up they should dial 999,” Dana said, according to the Independent.
East Midlands Ambulance Service believe Riley is their youngest ever caller and decided to praise him for his brave actions. The boy was given an award for saving his mother's life, consisting of a paramedic teddy bear and a certificate.
Dana says she is very proud of her boy because he knew what to do on that day. She confesses that she wouldn’t have called 999 herself, because she didn’t think it was something that serious.
“I am so proud of Riley. He is mummy’s little hero. I have told so many of my friends and family about what he did. My friends who have young children are so amazed, and are making sure their children would know what to do,” the boy’s mother added.