Little Jamie hailed a hero for saving mum in diabetic coma

Published on Thursday 4 September 2008 09:44

A FIVE-year-old boy has been hailed a lifesaver after his quick-thinking saved his mother from going into a diabetic coma.

Jamie White is in line for an award from ambulance crews for his actions after finding his mother Eleanor, 43, collapsed and lying motionless on the living room floor on Monday morning.

Instead of panicking, he ran to the kitchen to fetch her juice, raising her blood-sugar levels and reviving her enough for her to call for the telephone.

Jamie then perched on a high step to reach for the wall-mounted cordless phone which he passed to his mum. With great difficulty she managed to call 999, and ambulance crews were dispatched to the family's Boswall Square home.

Control room staff kept office administrator Ms White on the line and conscious, but Jamie's work was not yet done.

When ambulance crews arrived they found the front door locked from the inside, but rather than stand by and watch them break his door down he took the keys from the lock and posted them through the letterbox.

Ms White was taken to the Western General Hospital, while Jamie went about his day at Wardie Primary School, apparently unfazed by his early morning heroism.

She said: "It's just amazing what he did that morning. He was a bit alarmed when he saw what happened to me, but after he just went about his normal school day.

"I didn't see him again until the following day as I was kept in hospital for observation but I've been trying to make a wee fuss of him, telling him that it was so important what he did on Monday morning."

Single mother Ms White was first diagnosed with diabetes at the age of 24, completely by chance. She registered for new GP and submitted herself for a round of routine registration checks.

She said: "The doctor came back and told me that I was diabetic, which obviously came as a bit of a shock.

"I did have a few symptoms like tiredness and uncontrollable thirst, but you don't think it's anything serious at that age.

"Since then I have had a couple of serious attacks in the past but luckily there's always been people around to help me.

"This time it was quite frightening because there was only Jamie in the house.

"He knows that the juice is 'mummy's medicine' and that he's not to drink it, so he automatically went for the juice when he saw me on the floor and managed to eventually get it into my mouth.

"After that I was able to speak slightly, so I just kept mumbling 'phone, phone' over and over and he went and got it.

"I think he does realise how serious it was. He keeps saying 'mummy could have died', but he really just takes everything in his stride."

Jamie is now in line for a certificate of commendation from the Scottish Ambulance Service, who have invited him along to the station to meet the crew that helped save his mum.

Service spokesman John Morton said: "His mum should be very proud of him.

"He did exactly the right thing. He didn't panic, he kept his head and did everything that the ambulance crew needed him to do to help his mum. He's a very brave boy."