The inspiring moment a boy, 8, helps save his mum’s life with 999 West Midlands Ambulance call

Little Ryan Reid called paramedics after noticing his mum Alicia, 27, was suffering a serious case of anaphylaxis at their home in Kidderminster.

Alicia was left unable to breathe and talk after she had a severe allergic reaction to prescribed antibiotics. Instead of panicking, the cool-headed schoolboy kept his composure and ran to the house phone to call 999.

He then calmly talked call-handlers through his mum's symptoms and gave them her date of birth, address and postcode before paramedics arrived. Doctors later told Alicia her allergic reaction could have proved fatal if Ryan had not called for help when he did.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has now released the audio recording a year after the frightening ordeal in August 2023.

In the call, Ryan can be heard saying: "She's not getting any better. She's taken her inhaler but it still not working. Mummy's getting very hot. Mummy is still trying her hardest to breathe but she can't.

"She's sitting down but she's not asleep but she feels sick. I've asked her if she needs a drink, but she said no.But she just can't breathe."

Alicia said: "Hearing the call back was really emotional because I don't remember it at all. It just shows how calm he was the whole time. He did brilliantly and we're obviously very proud."

The mum-of-two had been to a doctors appointment for stomach pain and her GP prescribed her a new antibiotic after incorrectly diagnosing her with a UTI.

Alicia said she could feel herself falling unconscious and said her skin had turned scarlet red when Ryan noticed something was wrong. She added: "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, 10 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 he was panicking he wasn’t showing it."

Alicia said Ryan, now nine, didn't need any help when calling 999 and said she was shocked at how many details he knew.

She added: "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. 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."

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “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.”