By James HoreA BRAVE youngster has been hailed a hero for looking after his mother and calling an ambulance after she collapsed and became unconscious.

By James Hore

A BRAVE youngster has been hailed a hero for looking after his mother and calling an ambulance after she collapsed and became unconscious.

Kim Geden accidentally cut herself on a broken picture frame as she was doing housework and became faint as blood poured from her wrist.

Her nine-year-old son Joshua ran to the nearby doctors' surgery, but it was closed and he returned home to find his mother had passed out.

The quick-thinking youngster, from South Woodham Ferrers. near Chelmsford, called his father, Paul, at work and told him about the accident, and then phoned 999 for an ambulance.

While staff from the ambulance control room gave him instructions, Joshua placed a towel on the cut to stop the bleeding and took his younger brother Ben, six, into another room so he would not be frightened.

He then stayed by his mother's side, making regular checks as they waited for the emergency services to arrive at their home in Merton Place and treat her.

Mrs Geden said: "I feel a bit embarrassed. Almost as soon as I made the cut I started to feel faint. I managed to ask Joshua to run across the road to the local GP surgery.

"Unfortunately, it was shut and he came back. By this time I was feeling pretty woozy and eventually passed out altogether."

Her husband added: "We are both really proud of Joshua and Ben. We have explained to them in the past what to do in a situation like this.

"They have also had lessons about emergency situations at school and seen programmes like Blue Peter, which have had items about this sort of thing.

"Despite all that, you are never quite sure whether they will remember it when the time comes that they need it. They knew what to do and they did it. They are fantastic - our little stars."

Although Mrs Geden's injury was not too serious and she able to be treated at home, the Essex Ambulance Service said Joshua had acted like a hero.

Lisa Oliver, who answered the call at Essex Ambulance Service's control room, said: "There was just this little voice saying his mum was not very well.

"He was really calm and explained what had happened. I asked him to take the phone over to her, but she was not able to talk.

"He checked his mum regularly while the ambulance crew got there. I have got a nine year-old myself and I know he wouldn't have been as cool as Joshua."

Ambulance technician, Scott Dyer, who attended the incident with paramedic Damian Sherman, added: "Joshua did really well - he even checked who we were before letting us in.

"Kim's cut was not too serious and we treated her in her house. Joshua was really calm in what must have been a very frightening situation - he did everything right, he's a little hero."

james.hore@eadt.co.uk