A seven-year-old boy has been praised for his quick thinking after he dialled 999 when his mother collapsed at home.
Ronnie-Lee Gray, from Tilbury in Essex, called emergency services after his mother, Becky, fell unconscious at their home earlier this month. His mature actions meant an ambulance arrived quickly.
On the phone with the emergency services, the seven-year-old stayed calm, gave the handler their address and explained the situation.
His mother had low blood pressure and was recovering after a surgery days before. She said: “I’m so proud of him. There’s not a lot of people of that age who would know to do that and to act in the way he did.
“For him to be able to ring up 999 and give his full details and stay calm, it’s amazing.”
After the ambulance arrived, the boy’s mother was taken to hospital for checks, where she said staff praised her son’s actions. “Even when I was in A&E, I had all the doctors coming up to me telling me ‘your son is a very clever boy,’” she said.
She added that a similar incident had happened before and her son knew then to call for help.
“He’s known how to help for quite a while as I’ve had this problem for some time, particularly when I was pregnant, so we’ve even given him his own phone,” she said. “I had previously suffered with my blood pressure and sometimes passing out.”
Essex police’s control room arranged for the seven-year-old to visit his local station to thank him. Thurrock engagement sgt, Amelia Moore, said: “Ronnie showed maturity far beyond his years in helping his mum that day and clearly avoided a potentially worse outcome.
“It’s only right we thank him in some small way by letting him come and meet his local policing team. We were delighted to host Ronnie, he was a real pleasure and a credit to his family.”
Adam Taylor, supervisor of the force control room, praised Ruth Potts, the call handler who spoke to Ronnie-Lee: “Praise must also go to call handler Ruth Potts, whose manner and professionalism with Ronnie ensured we had help in place for his mum as quickly as possible.”
