Alicia Reid, a 27-year-old mother-of-two from Kidderminster, England, had recently taken a new antibiotic prescribed by her doctor, who had incorrectly diagnosed her stomach pains as a UTI.
Ryan, her eight-year-old son, noticed his mom was experiencing a serious anaphylactic reaction and was unable to speak or breathe.
What happened next was truly remarkable.
The boy immediately dialed 999 — the emergency services line in the UK — and calmly told them, “She just can’t breathe.”
Audio of the call was released [hear below] where the boy is heard calmly describing her symptoms and answering questions including her age and address.
Upon hearing the audio, his mom — who could not remember what happened — became emotional at what her son had accomplished.
She said:
It just shows how calm he was the whole time. He did brilliantly and we’re obviously very proud.
Usually he’s a very anxious little boy, quiet and shy. I don’t know how he did it as I know I would’ve panicked.
He let the ambulance crew know where my inhalers were, my name, he just basically let them know everything.
I tried to point to the antibiotic, he picked them up and said that I had one of those.
He saved my life. I know while he was on the phone, I was sat on the phone trying to get as much breath as I possibly could. I could feel it getting harder.
I felt my knees going on the floor. If the paramedics didn’t come when they did I would’ve passed out.
Him seeing me like that didn’t scare him. I felt like my lips had really swollen.
I’m extremely proud, he’s quite mature. I’ve taught him from the age of four or five in case I have an asthma attack to phone 999 if you need to.
When he was younger he used ask after nearly every cough if he needed to call 999.
It did say in rare cases it can cause an allergic reaction. I’m allergic to that type of antibiotic. The worst thing is that I didn’t even need the antibiotic.
She described the circumstances leading to her reaction:
It was just after lunch, I went to the pharmacy to get these antibiotics, the kids wanted to watch a film. I put the film on and took the antibiotics.
Five minutes after I needed the inhaler, ten minutes after I was really struggling. I was wheezing, I usually control it with my inhaler. I had my pink steroid inhaler as the blue wasn’t working.
It just kept getting worse. I had an itchy throat. Ryan kept asking if I was ok. I didn’t want him to think I wasn’t ok.
I was going into a panic, I just kept taking it. Ryan asked again and I just shook my head as I couldn’t talk. I just couldn’t get any words out, it was like a wheeze.
If I was on my own, I would have no idea. The boys were on holiday the week before, I am so grateful they were there.
If he was panicking he wasn’t showing it. I was kind of panicking. My phone was on the sofa and I rang my husband but I couldn’t talk to him and Ryan had both phones in his hands.
He told his dad that he called an ambulance as I couldn’t breathe. The call handler asked him all the questions, and he knew all the answers. He knew our address and postcode which I was shocked at.
My husband didn’t need to be on the phone, Ryan was that good. He knew how old I was.
Usually he’s a very anxious little boy, quiet and shy. I don’t know how he did it as I know I would’ve panicked.
He let the ambulance crew where my inhalers were, my name, he just basically let them know everything.
I tried to point to the antibiotic, he picked them up and said that I had one of those.
He saved my life. I know while he was on the phone, I was sat on the phone trying to get as much breath as I possibly could. I could feel it getting harder. I felt my knees going on the floor. If the paramedics didn’t come when they did I would’ve passed out.
I was scarlet red when I came in. My whole body was red. Him seeing me like that didn’t scare him. I felt like my lips had really swollen.
I’m extremely proud, he’s quite mature. I’ve taught him from the age of four or five in case I have an asthma attack to phone 999 if you need to.
A spokesman for the West Midlands Ambulance Service raved:
Ryan was amazing staying incredibly calm given how frightening the situation must have been.
There is no question that he did the right thing calling us as Alicia’s conditions was potentially very serious indeed.
If ever there was an example of why it is important to teach our children how to call for help, this is it. Ryan really is a lifesaver.
You can hear the audio of Ryan’s remarkable call to emergency services here:
We congratulate Ryan for his truly heroic actions in the face of adversity, and his parents who must be especially proud. Having already saved a life at age eight, the sky’s the limit for how far he will go.
We encourage our readers with young children to teach them how and when to call emergency services — 911 in the US and Canada — and not to be afraid to engage with the dispatcher and answer their questions.
You might even consider roll-playing a call to get them comfortable with the process.
