National: Five-year-old boy guides ambulance to mother in medical emergency

FIVE year-old Limerick boy Ben Holland proved he is wise beyond his years after he directed an ambulance to his home while his mother was experiencing a medical emergency.

Ben’s mother Jennie has Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) which causes her to feel dizzy and faint, which is what happened on that eventful Saturday two weeks ago. 

Ben and Jennie were alone at their home in Killaloe when the Limerick city native lost consciousness. 

The little boy had been shown by his parents what to do if his mother becomes faint but on this occasion Jenny lost consciousness for almost 10 minutes. 

That is when the St Michael’s Infant School pupil jumped into action and phoned an ambulance for his mother, which arrived just 12 minutes later. 

Jennie said her son gave their full address and as the house has no number, he told the call operator the colour of their front door instead.

“He rang and said that I feel dizzy sometimes but this was different because he couldn’t wake me. 

“They asked him to open the front door for the guards and go to his neighbours to say his mum needed help but he said he couldn’t leave the house because he isn’t allowed out in the dark!”

When the ambulance dispatch asked Ben if he knew his dad’s phone number he said he didn’t but that if they called his place of work and “asked for Joe” they would find him. 

“The ambulance service said it was the kind of call you would get from an adult with the details he gave them”, Jenny said proudly. 

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“He let the guards in when they arrived and he was a little worked up at that stage but he calmly told them what happened and said the doctors were on their way”.

Jennie said Ben was a bit shaken after the incident and was worried about going to school the following Monday in case he needed to “ring an ambulance for mammy again”. 

“It was scary for him but he was so brave. He was brilliant”. 

To celebrate Ben’s heroic actions, the National Ambulance Service will present him with a medal of bravery at his school later this month.