A courageous little boy who helped save his mother’s life when she collapsed at home has been praised by the emergency services.
Leo Cooper calmly called 999 when his mum, Caroline Frater, fell unconscious on October 12 at the family home in County Durham.
The five-year-old had been trained by Caroline to ring 999 in the event of her falling ill as she suffers from a rare neurological disorder which can cause her to lose consciousness in seconds.
So when Caroline suffered an attack at about 8.45pm that day, Leo used his mum’s phone to make the call that would save her life.
Speaking clearly to North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) call handler Lynn Worthington-Bianchi, Leo told her his address in Crook and that his mum was ill.
He then greeted police officers PC Scott Ruddick and PC Craig Mcguire, who went into the house and took over until paramedics arrived.
Caroline has now made a full recovery from the latest attack and was joined by other family members including Leo’s dad, Michael Cooper, and grandparents, for a special assembly at Sunnybrow Primary School in his honour on Friday.
PCSO Katie Martin, who was on shift at the time of the call, was joined by Inspector Ed Turner to present Leo with his Young Hero Award – a force-wide award which recognises young people who have gone above and beyond to make a difference.
The pair also talked to the children about how to call 999 and the importance of using it in an emergency before being joined by call handler Lynn and firefighter, Peter Chisholm, who all presented Leo with a variety of gifts and certificates.
Insp Turner said: “Leo is a fantastic young man and thoroughly deserves to be crowned a Young Hero. Well done Leo!”
Lynn added: “It’s been a joy to meet Leo as we rarely get to meet the people we help as call handlers. He’s a lovely boy and I’ve really enjoyed being able to recognise him on behalf of NEAS.”
Peter, who is watch manager at Crook and presented Leo with his own junior fireman’s uniform, said: “We have loved spending time with Leo today and presenting him with some goodies.”
His crew treated the children to a special tour of one of their fire engines, with Leo getting the first chance to turn on the sirens and beep the horn.
Leo’s story is now being made into a film by Caroline’s great uncle, Chris Anderson, who runs the film company, Crackin Toast, with his wife Rosie.
Head teacher Suzanne Binks said: “We are all really proud of Leo, he’s a real young hero.
“He’s a lovely young man and we think the world of him. We all loved learning about 999 too which is a really important message.”
