SEVEN-year-old Ollie Maddigan has been hailed a hero after his quick thinking helped save his mother’s life.
The Finstock School pupil put mum Charlie Comber into the recovery position and dialled 999 after finding her having an epileptic fit.
Miss Comber, 30, praised her son, while the ambulance crew said his actions had ensured a happy ending to the story.
She said: “When I seize, I bite my tongue very badly. I could have been swallowing my tongue while I was coughing.
“If Ollie hadn’t turned me over and done what he did, I don’t like to think what could have happened.”
Ollie awoke to find that his mum was coughing and choking while having a seizure.
He turned Miss Comber, whose partner was away at the time, on to her front and called the ambulance.
Ollie, who wants to be a vet when he is older, said: “My mum woke me up, coughing. Then her head dropped on the floor and she was making an ‘uurrrrrgh’ noise. I rushed downstairs to call 999.
“Someone answered the phone and I said ‘ambulance please’. I told them my mum had gone wibble wobble, wibble wobble, jelly on the bed and they told me to just stay there.”
When ambulance crew Dave England and Amanda Graham arrived on the scene, with community first responder Sara Anscombe, Ollie could not unlock the door as the keys were on a hook out of his reach.
Instead, he opened a downstairs window, which Mr England could climb through.
Miss Comber was checked at the John Radcliffe Hospital before she returned home.
Miss Comber, of Wards Lane, Finstock, near Witney, said: “When I heard about everything, I don’t think it is possible for a mum to be prouder than I was.
“I think it is incredible. For a grown-up to see someone fit violently like I did, it’s a very, very scary experience, and for Ollie to see it and deal with it in such a responsible grown-up kind of way – I am just so proud of him.”
She put her son’s quick-thinking down to “common sense” as the youngster has not been given first aid training.
She said: “He knows that mummy has fits as I have talked to him before and he has seen me have one on one other occasion.
“I have told him that if anything happens to somebody and you don’t know what to do, you should dial 999.”
Ollie was presented with a commendation from South Central Ambulance Service on Thursday, following the incident last month.
The youngster, who enjoys playing the piano, added: “When the ambulance arrived, I felt a bit scared, because my mummy was going to hospital, and I felt a bit happy.”
Mr England added: “Ollie’s quick thinking and appropriate action did much to ensure a happy outcome for his mum.”
Miss Comber has had four seizures in the past three years. She has regular brain scans to try to find the cause of the problem.
witney@oxfordmail.co.uk
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