A mother whose three-year-old son called 999 when she collapsed at home has appeared on BBC Breakfast, where the toddler was hailed a hero.
Mum Georgia, from Doncaster, appeared on the programme with her son James, who dialled 999 when she became unresponsive and he couldn't wake her. Presenter Sarah Campbell introduced the pair, saying James had been "hailed a hero".
How the toddler knew what to do
Co-host Charlie Stayt explained that James learned what to do during a visit to the National Emergency Services Museum in Sheffield. "He called the police straight away when his mum Georgia became unresponsive," Stayt said.
A segment of the call was played, with the call handler asking James if his mum was asleep. "Is she waking up?" she asked, as James replied "No." "Can you try and tickle mummy?" she went on. "See whether you can wake her up."
Mum's account of the incident
Georgia described the day of the incident: "I'd been feeling unwell for a couple of days. And that morning I'd still been feeling quite unwell. I'd been feeling quite dizzy, quite funny. Me and James have been doing some train tracks in his bedroom so I've kind of been on my hands and knees crawling around with him and building that."
"And then my five-month-old daughter, Elodie, she was ready for a sleep. So I sat on the bed to feed her. And next thing you know I wake up and he's on the phone to 999."
Sarah Campbell remarked: "I mean, for a three-year-old to be able to pick up the phone for a start, amazing. But also to have the presence of mind to call 999."
Learning from a museum visit
Georgia said she had the idea to teach James to call for help after a visit to the museum in Sheffield, because it had "a section where children can use magnetic numbers to learn how to dial 999, but also 101 as well".
"I said to my husband, this is a fantastic opportunity to teach James who to call, what to do if there was ever an emergency and he needed something, especially when I'm on my own with him at home when I was pregnant," she said. Georgia also taught James their address, which he was able to give when he called 999.
"I think the impressive part, obviously, is the fact that he was able to recognise that something was wrong," she said. "And be able to have the confidence in that moment as well, that he was feeling probably so worried and scared, to actually be able for them as well."
Charlie Stayt noted how "proud" James' parents must be. "Yeah, we are, absolutely," Georgia replied. BBC Breakfast airs from 6am on BBC One.
